How does probate work if someone married 1 year before their death?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
How does probate work if someone married 1 year before their death?
My mom recently passed away and had been married to her new spouse only about a year. He and my sister and I did not get along. About 2 months before she passed, he went to CA to
Asked on October 17, 2017 under Estate Planning, Texas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
Married one year or one day or one hour, living in separate states or separate countries or separate continents, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that they were legally married. Assuming your mother did not have a will--if she did, then her property goes to whomever the will says it does--her property goes or passes by "intestate succession": the rules for who gets what when there is no will. In your state (Texas) when there is no will, if there is a spouse (which there is) and children not from that spouse (you and your sister), the spouse gets 1/3 of your mother's separate property (anything she owned pre-marriage) and the right to use your mother's real estate for life (so he can live there as long as he wants; and he has a 1/3 interest in the home, as well as 1/3 of anything else she had pre-marriage). You and your sister split the other 2/3 of her separate property and her 1/2 interest in community property (what she acquired while married).
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.