Birmingham, AL asked in Divorce for Alabama

Q: Husband/Wife divorce in GA. Both move to AL. (Ex) Husband dies in AL. Issues with divorce decree. Which state presides?

Husband died.Will was drafted not signed.Wishes for property were literal,verbal, & actively noted,until his death,included in the will (unsigned),items are to be stored.Their divorce degree (GA), says:"In event of husbands death,all items "left behind" will be inherited by...". In this situation,his items remained w/ her to provide stability for kids.After 3 years,items were to be returned at husbands request.Multiple,multiple attempts were made for remaining items,she refused.When returned,items were damaged,etc.Many not returned to him after continuous attempts.The majority of the items were in our home when he died.Here's the question: He absolutely did not want his ex to have the items, the decree states "left behind".Had she followed the decree & returned the items,nothing would have been "left behind".Why does the decree use this phrase instead of "at time of husband of death, all items are inherited by...? Is there flexibility w/ this phrase for his wishes to be fulfilled?

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1 Lawyer Answer

A: Divorce issue first: if you and he were divorced and that decree was final, then you have no marital right to any of his property. Any spousal rights were extinguished by the divorce.

Probate issue: Alabama law governs his estate. The order of the court is not a Last Will and Testament of the dead spouse. His "literal, verbal" wishes are not enforceable unless they are in the form of an Alabama will, that is -- a written document disposing of all of his property which is signed or acknowledged by him and witnessed by two people. \

The avenue to explore with a Georgia lawyer is can his estate enforce any terms of the order of the court in the divorce. That is, if a property settlement in the divorce judgment is enforceable to have property revert to the husband or to his estate on his death, can that be enforced against the wife by his estate? You need to see an attorney and allow him or her to take a look at that order.

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