Q: What to do after separated spouse's death with children in Maryland?

A: Consult a lawyer about this. A lot depends on whether there is a will or not, and whether the children are minors or not. In addition, how your assets are titled and whether any assets solely in his name have beneficiaries (transfer on death or “TOD”) designated, have a big impact. As surviving spouse you have inheritance rights that are affected by all of these factors. The fact you are separated is irrelevant to your inheritance rights because you are still married and there are no written legal agreements or court orders addressing your property rights. There will be a need for some fact gathering and then going over the impact of those facts on inheritance rights for all involved. Nobody inherits liability for another person’s individual debts, but you remain 100% liable on joint debts you shared with him (e.g., if you co-signed car loans, joint credit card accounts, mortgage, etc.). If any accounts were held jointly by you and your husband, including real property titles, then you become sole owner of those assets by operation of law and they are not included in his estate and are not subject to his will or (if no will) intestate succession. But going through all of the possibilities would take too long, and is not very productive. A lawyer will direct you to gather as much information as possible. An estate must be opened, and as surviving spouse, you have priority of appointment as Personal Representative. The PR is the only person with the legal authority to access all of the decedent’s records, financial accounts, assets, etc. This will be necessary to answer all the questions that need to be answered.

A: If you did not waive rights in a prenuptial, then as surviving spouse you would stand in priority to open the estate. If your husband had no Will then the property would pass under the laws of intestate succession. How property would be distributed without a Will depends on whether your husband had children from any other union or whether all his children were also your children.

It should be pretty easy to determine whether or not your husband owned real estate (e.g., the home he lived in) or his vehicle. If you had no involvement whatsoever with his finances, then you could petition the court for a limited order to locate assets.

You are strongly encouraged to sit down and consult with an attorney.