[SarahBelle48]

I have a question regarding second marriages and how that affects inheritances. Sorry if this has been done before but the search wasn't overly helpful.

Lets say a man has adult children from a first marriage and his first wife passes away, leaving everything to him. He then marries another woman who has several of her own adult children from her first marriage. She's divorced so her children have a father.

If the man passes away before the woman, does everything go to the second wife if he doesn't stipulate otherwise? And would the children have any grounds to contest this if it happens? If there have been verbal promises made or something along those lines.

Subsequently, when the second wife passes away, does everything go to her children? Or is she under any obligation to give anything to the stepchildren?

Thanks

This post has been edited by SarahBelle48: 07/12/2012, 09:27 AM

[JECJEC]

Its a good idea to have a will then it is based on how you want to distribute.

Also inheritance is state based so you would need to see the legislation in your state.

[qak]

I don't think there's any easy answer to that; and the answer may vary from state to state.

This is a situation where a testamentary trust could be suitable.

This is a very good reason for everyone to ensure that they have a valid and binding will in place, and to regularly update their will.

[meggs1]

If there is no will then the estate (after payment of debts and funeral expenses) will be dealt with according to the law in the state where he was residing.

So for example in NSW it would be the Succession Act 2006. http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/sa2006138/

[Ianthe]

I think this is dependent of how the will is set up.

My father and mother are divorced. My father is remarried and has a son from that marriage. I have two other brothers. When my father dies there is some stipulation that we can't boot my stepmother out of her house. When she dies then the assets will be halved-half to go to my brother from that marriage (her share), and the other half (Dad's share) to be split between all four of us.

You probably don't want to know what I think about that OK here goes. My father got a larger percentage from the divorce settlement, my stepmother came into the marriage with no assets. I think it should be divided evenly. And it's not about the money. It is to do with the fact that she doesn't ever want to be referred to as a stepmother or tell people that we are her stepkids but does treat us differently in every way to her biological son (which is understandable as we were teens when we met). It's the inconsistency that upsets me. It's all a pretty moot point as my stepmother is only 14 years older than me.

[MrsLexiK]

I have a question regarding second marriages and how that affects inheritances. Sorry if this has been done before but the search wasn't overly helpful.

Lets say a man has adult children from a first marriage and his first wife passes away, leaving everything to him. He then marries another woman who has several of her own adult children from her first marriage. She's divorced so her children have a father.

If the man passes away before the woman, does everything go to the second wife if he doesn't stipulate otherwise? And would the children have any grounds to contest this if it happens? If there have been verbal promises made or something along those lines.

Subsequently, when the second wife passes away, does everything go to her children? Or is she under any obligation to give anything to the stepchildren?

Thanks

If the adult children are not classified as dependants this would be mostly how the state would divide it up. If the adult children are still considered dependant then the spouse would be left with x amount (this is capped) and then the dependants would be left with another amount to be split evenly. Adult children does not mean they are not still a dependant. If the state thinks they are no dependant then all money would be left to the spouse (if married/defacto) or follw the lines of succession (this is for vic and what I was taught in probabte law)

So say there is $500K, the husband dies. One of the children he has is still seen as dependant, the wife gets 1/3 or $320K (not 100% of the forumal these days as we are going back 5 years), the dependant child would then get the left over. Both would be seen to do as they see fit.

This would be why my mother and SF went to the solicitors to sign their will in between the wedding and going on their honeymoon. Why my Grandmother has an iron clad will, and why my mother is trying to get her father to make up trusts as opposed to just leaving money.

[SarahBelle48]

Thank you for the responses. I am asking on behalf of my DH and his siblings. Their father is remarrying next year and they have raised concerns that FIL will go back on promises that he made assuring them that the property he owns and lives in will be left to them. This property was built by FIL and MIL many years ago, its where the family lived for many years before moving out and is the last place their mother lived before she passed away. So I was just trying to clarify whether FIl would need to specifically stipulate this promise in a will for it to be upheld or whether the verbal promises would be enough. It appears that some other promises regarding this property have already been broken, hence the concern that this promise will also be broken. Its not so much about the money or anything else, its mainly about this particular property.

[JRA]

A verbal promise is nothing.

A will is always required.

[asdf89]

Just something to think about... a marriage invalidates a will unless the will specifically states that it remains valid after the marriage.
So if he's got a will, but it's one he's had for ages and hasn't updated it to reflect the upcoming wedding and then (hypothetically and heaven forbid) dies before he gets to write a new will, he will not have a valid will = potentially making legal headaches for your DH and family.

So make sure his will is updated... or updated soon after the wedding.


ETA: the example I was given was... a man and a women get married (second marriage for both and both have children). on the way home from the wedding they get into a car accident. the man dies at the scene (and the marriage has invalidated both of their pre-existing wills) so all his assets are now his wifes. she then dies at the hospital later - all her assets (including those of her husband) go to her children, leaving the husbands children with no inheritance. I'm not sure how accurate this is, and surely the children of the husband could challenge this outcome, but something to think about when parents remarry.

This post has been edited by asdf89: 07/12/2012, 10:17 AM

[qak]

So I was just trying to clarify whether FIl would need to specifically stipulate this promise in a will for it to be upheld or whether the verbal promises would be enough.

Absolutely, it needs to be in his Will. But remember, a Will can always be changed. Alternatively - they could ask for it to be gifted to them now (but there would be stamp duty issues).