A client asked: What are the
implications when folks get married in community of property after a property
was purchased in any one’s name, draw up a will and one passes away?
If a couple get married in community of property,
they share equally in the assets and liabilities of
their joint estate (whether acquired or incurred before or during the
marriage).
So,
if the husband owned a property before the marriage, on death or divorce, the
wife becomes entitled to half the net value of the joint estate (i.e. half of
all their combined assets less all its joint liabilities).
What
that means is that a spouse can only leave his or her half share of the joint
estate, in a will. If a will says “I leave my estate to my mother”, “my estate”
means his or her net half of the joint estate.
No comments:
Post a Comment