Father murdered while in the process of divorce.

[stacip]

My dad was murdered 3 weeks ago. He was in the process of a divorce and my step mom kept avoiding the papers. Now that he is gone, she gets everything. Can his children fight for half since they have only been married for 5 years?

 

[Proserpina]

It will have to go to court.

The length of the marriage is meaningless - they could have gotten married 5 months ago and legally she'd still be his next of kin.

However - did he actually FILE for divorce?

 

[stacip]

Yes, I can pull it up through the county he lived in. Her mail was just returned, that was the only thing holding them back.

 

[Proserpina]

Then you would try to use that as proof that Dad no longer wanted the relationship to continue...although it's not proof that he wouldn't still want to her to be a beneficiary of his estate.

Really though, the surviving children need to contact a probate attorney immediately.

 

[mightymoose]

Was there no will?
Without a will, and possibly even with one, the children will need the services of an attorney if they want to get anything.

 

[bluemann33]

sorry to hear of your loss. This could be difficult. You MUST hire an attorney asap.

 

[army judge]

I'm sorry to hear of your loss. I wish you the time to grieve and one day heal.

As to his filing for a divorce, that's meaningless. Her argument will be that they were reconciling. The mere filing of divorce documents doesn't mean a darn thing.


Dad might have regretted it, and was going to do nothing. Dad might have wanted to reconcile. Unfortunately, you'll never know to arrive at a legal conclusion.


Bottom line, she's his legal heir. The length of the marriage isn't relevant.

The filing of divorce papers isn't dispositive or probative, insofar as a court would be concerned.

Talk to a lawyer or two, but don't get your hopes up too high!