Some of the most challenging and turbulent difficulties that people may encounter in life are the loss of a spouse, the divorce process and figuring out how an estate will be distributed after someone passes away. In some instances, someone may find themselves facing all of these challenges at the same time, and they may have a lot of legal questions. For example, someone may have split up with their spouse, and their ex may pass away before their divorce is finalized. This can raise many questions, such as how his or her estate will be split up and whether their spouse will be entitled to any portion of their estate.
First of all, it is important to be aware of how laws vary from one state to the next and realize that every situation is different. For example, if a spouse was clearly named in an estate plan, they may be able to receive a portion of the estate even though they had been living apart and were in the process of divorcing the person who created the estate plan. On the other hand, someone may not have any rights to their former spouse’s estate after their ex has passed away, even if they were still legally married at the time of death.
There are some questions that will need to be answered in order to determine if someone may be eligible to gain access to assets from an estate. Moreover, our law office understands how emotionally difficult these circumstances can be.