QUESTION
Who is entitled to the belongings of a deceased mother when a step father is involved?
Asked on Jun 08th, 2017 on Estate Planning - Utah
More details to this question:
My mom spent the last two years of her life with a guy she didn't want to be with, but was afraid to leave. A month before my mom passed away, they got married (she's an alcoholic, and I think both that and her liver disease impaired her judgment). My step father is having the funeral and burial 2 hours away which is hard enough, but now he is planning on withholding her belongings from us. She doesn't have a will or anything since she couldn't really afford a lawyer and didn't know how to make one herself. My siblings and I are very concerned that we will not get any of her belongings (the majority of which was gifts from us).
1 ANSWER
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Randy M. Lish, Attorney at Law
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Under the intestacy statutes in Utah, when there is a second marriage,, the surviving spouse gets the first $75,000.00 of the estate. The balance si divided equally between the surviving spouse, who gets 1/2, and the children from the first marriage, who divide up the other 1/2. Realistically, if the estate is not large enough, you could all be disinherited.
Answered on Aug 26th, 2017 at 8:07 PM