![]() Post your questions, tell me what you want to know more about, or weigh in on the latest Moneyist columns. I receive more letters than I could ever answer, so I’ll be bringing all of that guidance - including some you might not see in these columns - to this group. I often talk to lawyers, accountants, financial advisers and other experts, in addition to offering my own thoughts. Readers write in to me with all sorts of dilemmas: inheritance, wills, divorce, tipping, gifting. Check out the Moneyist private Facebook group, where we look for answers to life’s thorniest money issues. Would you like to sign up to an email alert when a new Moneyist column has been published? If so, click on this link. My advice for you: Write your stepmother a nice card for the holidays.ĭo you have questions about inheritance, tipping, weddings, family feuds, friends or any tricky issues relating to manners and money? Send them to MarketWatch’s Moneyist and please include the state where you live (no full names will be used). My advice for others: Write a clear will. Children sometimes confuse their parents’ assets with their own. It was your father’s estate when he was alive, not yours, and now it belongs to your stepmother. This is a tricky situation, given that your father would have liked you to receive something and you are at the mercy of your stepmother. Anything that goes through probate (that is, the court process) will also go to her. In this case, any non-probate assets - jointly owned bank accounts between your stepmother and late father, and any life insurance policies or brokerage accounts where your stepmother was named as beneficiary - will go to her. ![]() It may be that your father had meant to write a will that divided his estate more evenly between his wife and children, but that’s not what happened here. You could talk to your stepmother about anything of special sentimental (or monetary) value, but if she chose to leave you anything that belonged to your father in her will it would be out of goodwill rather than legal necessity. ![]() But she didn’t and she inherited the whole kit and caboodle. He wanted everything to go to his wife and, in the event that she predeceased him, wanted his estate divided between his four children. Your father’s wishes were honored, I’m afraid to say. When it comes to inheritance, children usually fare better than stepchildren. They resided in South Carolina at the time of my dad’s passing. Is this even possible? Thank you for your time. We don’t want to take anything from our stepmother, we would just like our dad’s will honored when she passes. He did leave a will on how he wanted his estate to be dispersed, but only if his current wife was also deceased. My dad has four biological children from his first two wives, and had none with the third wife, his widow when he passed away.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |