What Happens in Ohio if a Divorcee Dies Before Transferring Property or Assets as Divorce Court Ordered?
How Assets are to be Divided After the Passing of a Spouse During the Divorce Decree
The question was recently posed to me as to what happens if, after a valid and enforceable Decree of Divorce, Dissolution or Legal Separation is filed, one of the spouses or ex-spouses dies before the division of assets can be fully completed. Does the ex-spouse or spouse still retain an interest in an asset that has been released by the Court Order? Two possible scenarios may arise, and each will be addressed separately.
Husband Passes First:
Let’s address the situation when the husband passes first. What about those assets in which wife released or no longer had any interest, yet she remains either a beneficiary or a joint survivorship owner when husband dies? By operation of law, you would think that those assets would pass to her regardless of the Court Decree, but a quick look to Ohio statutory law helps answer this question. With respect to joint and survivorship real property, Ohio Revised Code specifically states that if a husband and wife own real estate … Read More... “Divorce Assets In Ohio – Survivorship Benefits For Spouse”
To the surprise of everyone in the estate planning community, Congress failed to address a critical estate and generation-skipping tax matter before the end of 2009, resulting in the repeal of the federal estate tax. However, this repeal is for 2010 only. In 2011, the exclusion for federal estate tax reverts back to $1,000,000. How is this possible, and what effect does it have on couples’ estate plans, particularly second marriages?
Fans of football in general, but more particularly fans of the West Virginia University Mountaineers and the Cincinnati Bengals, mourn the untimely loss of Chris Henry on December 17, 2009. He was just twenty-six (26) years of age. Henry had a stellar career as a wide receiver at West Virginia University and was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the third (3rd) round of the 2005 draft. He had some notable off-the-field problems and at least five (5) legal-related incidents but was seemingly back on track with both his football career and life when he sustained an injury to his forearm in mid-season of 2009. During the Cincinnati-Baltimore game, Chris sustained a fracture to his left forearm and was thereafter placed on the “injured reserve” list.