Q: Mom and Dad divorce granted but never reached splitting of assets. Terminal ill Dad dies. What happens now?
My dad served my mother divorce papers in 2015. She never signed but the 2 year separation period was up. Judge granted divorce on those grounds. My dad found out he was terminally ill. Assets were never split. He recently passed. Do we take my mom to court so the assets can be split up like they were supposed to be in the divorce? They weren’t technically divorced all the way and I don’t think you can divorce a deceased person. Does the divorce just go away? Do we just take his will to probate? Very confused on how to approach this.
A: It depends on whether the divorce decree reserved equitable distribution (property division) or not. If it did, then that part of the divorce is probably still unresolved. If it did not, then everyone could have a problem. I suggest that you meet with an attorney preferably with both family and estate law experiniece. Bring along copies of as many of the divorce documents as you can get your hands on, including the divorce decree.
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