Q: Does the property of a deceased person go to the ex-spouse if there is no will?
A woman is killed by her ex-spouse. When that woman's mother went to the bank to close her account, the back said that she had no rights, that the property belong to the exspouse.
A: This is a little more complex than one might expect. First, if by "ex-" you mean that the couple was actually legally divorced, then in the absence of a will it will be as if the person was never married at all, and generally the property would go to children or else to parents. Bank accounts are a little different, though. Since bank accounts are account belonging to a person or people, if the ex-spouce's name is still on the account, they normally would have rights to the property. However, Virginia has laws to prevent a person convicted of murder or voluntary manslaughter from benefiting from his or her deed. (VA Code 55-401 to -415). If this applies, then it depends how exactly the bank account was set up. The account either could go to the family of the victim entirely, or at least half of it could.
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