Not Divorced and No Will? Bad Idea.
By It seems to be more and more commonplace that married couples who want to part ways are failing to go forward with divorce proceedings or waiting for many years to start the divorce process. This inaction does not save money but creates potential future and costly problems especially for those who acquire assets from their parents’ or siblings’ or other family members’ estates in property division in eventual divorce, and for the “un-divorced” individuals’ estates themselves.
In Massachusetts the Probate laws have changed considerably with regard to “intestacy” where a person has passed on without a will. Now, the surviving spouse of a person who has died without a will have more of an interest than under prior law. For example, if the surviving spouse is the mother of all of the deceased person’s children, the mother will take all of the father’s estate even though the parties have been living separately for decades. For the father, this could have been avoided by having a Will.
Failing to obtain a divorce and failing to have a Will are not good options!
– Lillian LaRosa
