No marriage? No legal connection? No luck
DEAR BRUCE: My fiance and I were in the process of moving in together after a two-year relationship. We knew each other for 19 years, engaged for two. I had things of mine at his house, he had things of his at my house, and we had combined purchases. We made a lot of plans for out future together. He passed away suddenly from a heart attack. No children, never married and left no will. I have a child that he treated like his own. He owned his home and substantial amount of money in investments. Two weeks after his passing, his mother came in and told me I was not allowed in the home anymore and refused to let me take anything. He did not have a good relationship with any of his family members. My question is can she legally do this? — V.S., Hillsboro, Ore.
DEAR V.S.: There are some things you can do to protect your interests. It’s very likely the mother, under the rules of intestacy in your home state, will be the beneficiary here. You’re entitled to nothing. You have no legal relation to this guy. You mention that you have things that you purchased together as well as your own stuff in your house and his house. Until such time as the mother has become administrator of his estate and starts to settle his debts, etc., she has no legal right to go in there and start giving stuff away. You can go to court and get an injunction on her to keep her from disposing of anything until it’s sorted out what belongs to whom. Whether this is a game worth playing is another matter. Your circumstance underscores the realities in this world. Unless you get married or alternatively both parties have wills, legally jointly held property, when someone dies, leaves the other person out of luck.
DEAR BRUCE: My husband is the oldest of five children. He has two children that are a joy to their grandparents. Now the grandfather is ill. His son, my husband, is also quite ill. I have found out that if my husband should die before his father, his share of the estate would then be divided amongst the remaining siblings. I am not interested in the money for myself, but feel the grandchildren should be remembered. If I thought that any of the aunts or uncles would have more than two nickels left to rub together to pass on to their nieces, I would not be so annoyed. I know my father had left 10 percent of his estate to each of the grandchildren. What is customarily done? We would not be talking about a great deal of money; it is the principle that is involved. — D.S., Tampa, Fla.
DEAR D.S.: There is nothing that is customarily done. Legally, from how you say the will is set up, there is no provision for money to be passed to your husband’s heirs. If that’s the case, you guys and the grandchildren are out. If the grandfather is able to handle his own affairs mentally, and you’d feel comfortable about talking to him about this, you could suggest that he amend his will so that the grandchildren share in the estate. Under the present situation as you have described it, if your husband precedes his father, your kids are out.
DEAR BRUCE: My wife had worked for three years with her brother who was starting a mortgage business. She has since left his (floundering) company. I found out in the course of working there as office manager she apparently signed her name (and I guess Social Security Number) to several items, including a cell phone contract and two company credit cards. The cell phone bill was more than $5,000 and a collection agency has already tried to collect. We explained the situation that it was a company account, but they pursued us. A lawyer friend contacted them and now my brother-in-law is paying them $300 a month. They have stated if a payment is missed they will garnish my wife’s pay. If that were not enough she is apparently on the account of two credit cards ($18,000 and $12,000) that have not been paid in months. One has been handed over to a collection agency and I believe they are now going to court. There is no way we can afford any of this. My brother-in-law can’t afford any more as he barely scrapes by and owes us several thousand dollars. I am not one to shirk away from my bills, but I feel this should not be our responsibility, as we never used any of these accounts. They were strictly for my brother-in-law’s business. Is there anything we can do? Can she declare bankruptcy herself? How does that affect our home, wedding ring, personal assets, etc? — J.H., via e-mail
DEAR J.H.: Anybody reading this response, please look at your hand. You have heavy-duty explosives in that hand. It’s called “your signature.” Jim, your wife signed for these credit cards as the responsible party. She did the same thing on the cell phones. Did her brother take advantage of her? Absolutely. That doesn’t in any way reduce her liability. Yes, your wife could declare bankruptcy or attempt to declare bankruptcy but the courts would have to approve it and I suspect there are assets other than your home, joint accounts, etc., that the bankruptcy would not be approved until those accounts were completely used to pay off her obligations. I’m sure your wedding ring is safe and the home, although cannot be taken from you, the creditors could get a garnishment against your wife’s interest in the home. I don’t know if there’s anything that can be done at this late date given the fact that she did voluntarily, without coercion, undertake these debts even though you say she didn’t understand.
Send your questions to: Smart Money, P.O. Box 2095, Elfers, FL 34680. E-mail to: bruce@brucewilliams.com. Questions of general interest will be answered in future columns. Owing to the volume of mail, personal replies cannot be provided.
