Does a sibling of a dead man have right to assests he shared with a girlfriend?

Question

My mother had a boyfriend for 12 years. He just died. Together they had a landcontract for property that still isnt paid off, along with 2 vechiles that both their names are on that still arent paid off, He has a 17 year old daughter from an ex mariage. The ex wife is now saying that all those assests(which are all in his and my mothers name) belong to the daughter. My mother and him worked together for years to aquire these things. My question is: Does the daughter have a right to all these assests that are also my mothers?

Answer 1

In many states there is common law. Since her name and his are on all of the properties that they acquired together, then next in line would be the girlfriend, not the daughter to inherit the property and items. If she can prove, they lived together and obviously by the signings they had purchases together, then too bad soo sad for the daughter. Whatever his daughter's mother and he acquired while he was married to her, goes to the daughter. Not the items of the common law wife. I hope she gets everything that he and she worked hard for. This ex-wife need to stop trying to get her hands in something she didn't put forth an effort to earn. The daughter can't miss items she never had!!! I wish her alot of luck and hope she can find a lawyer that will fight for her.

Answer 2

FIRST OF ALL, there is no "COMMON LAW" issue here. This is a straight Probate matter.

If he did not have a will then the state INTESTATE SUCCESSION laws will need to be followed. There is NO property interest without probate.

Also, disposition depends entirely on how the property is held. if the cares are held as Him AND her with rights of survivorship then the mother owns that asset.

If the ownerhip does not specify survivorship, then the daughter owns that portion of the asset that the father owned unless there are other siblings . In that case , his portion of the asset would be divided by stripes.

As to the land contract, while your mother can make a case for his portion of the debt to be assessed to the Daghter's share of the estate, that would be a matter of fact for the court to decide.

In most cases, I would advise your mother to tell the ex that if the daughter wants to file probate, you will turn over all of her father's undivided assets AND debts and be done with it.

Regardless, do NOT do anything until probate is filed.

Answer 3

Since your mother and the boyfriend never married, the daughter probably can try to come in for some things but the courts will probably have to muddle through it. Your mother needs to get a lawyer. Since her name is also on many of the things they owned together, she might be able to keep some of it but then, the courts might order her to pay the daughter something for what was his.

They should have married, then this wouldn't have been an issue......

Answer 4

first off - was there a will? If so, that takes priority.

Do you live in a common law state? If so, they may be considered married. In that case, your mom would get everything as the closest surviving relative.

Otherwise, if they were not married and there is no will, his assets go to the next closest relative, in this case his daughter.

You say the assets are in his AND your mother's name. Did they have any documents that spell out what happens if one of them dies? If not, the daughter owns her fathers SHARE of the assets, not the entire assets. She has NO right to any assets that are completely your mother's.

Tell your mom to get a lawyer right away, this could get messy.

Answer 5

That's one of the reasons why people should get married. You need to see an attorney.

More than likely, the daughter is the man's heir and is entitled to his half of the couple's possessions, unless he specified his girlfriend as his heir. If the daughter is underage her legal guardian will probably be responsible for her share of the assets until she reaches 18 or 21.

Answer 6

Enter .. The Lawyer. Get a good one.

If I had to make a guess though... I'd say that unless there was a will.. the answer would be "no".
Was he caught up on the child support? If not, then the daughter can sue his estate for the child support which is legally HERS.

Answer 7

No, Daughter doesn't have a right to 'all' of it, because your mother owned half of them (since they were in both names). But assuming that Boyfriend died without a will, his daughter likely does have the right to Boyfriend's portion of the assets.

Mom needs to talk to a local attorney about it.

Answer 8

She might have the right to all the assets. The law does not recognize BF and GF relationships.
Your mum must talk to a lawyer about this and know her chances before someone drags the case to court.

Answer 9

The Ex Wife is not a lawyer or a judge so she really has no idea what she is talking about.
Most things when co-owned goes to the survivor.
The only things your mother will have a problem keeping would be things that are not under her name.

Answer 10

The daughter has no right to her father's belongings. If the land and vehicle were in her father's name alone, she would have access to it. Since your mother's name is included in this contract, the property and payments for said property belongs to your mother. It is kind of like your mom and her boyfriend was business partners. Your mom is just the sole proprietor now tht she doesn't have partner.