Should Your Rhode Island Divorce Settlement Anticipate Your Death?
August 14, 2012
Authored By: Christopher Pearsall, RI Divorce Attorney
a.k.a. " The Rhode Island Divorce Coach ℠ "
Does it matter to you what happens to your part of a divorce settlement if you die? Have you even thought about it?
You may want to consider these important questions.
Did you know that without the right language in your Marital Settlement Agreement you may not have the ability to pass on you portion of a settlement to your children, your brother, your sister or your children or grandchildren?
Consider this scenario:
You are getting divorced. You reach an agreement. You have your divorce hearing. Sadly, during the course of your divorce before your Final Judgment of Divorce is entered you are crossing the street one day you are hit by a drunk driver and killed. Your spouse is still your legal heir.
As a layperson you aren't likely to realize that without the correct wording in your Divorce/Marital Settlement Agreement and a new Will to reflect who you want your settlement items to go to, they could all go to the spouse you are divorcing.
Would you be upset knowing that you bought out your spouse from the marital house so you could live there only to find out that she may get it all anyway?
These are questions many people don't think of. It's the job of a good Rhode Island divorce attorney to call issues such as these to your attention so that you can make the right choices and legal decisions for your life.
If your spouse was unfaithful to you and you were put through hell reaching the Settlement Agreement in your RI Divorce would you feel more strongly about your unfaithful spouse getting everything anyway?
Sometimes the little things in a divorce aren't so little. All it takes is one crucial mistake, one missing paragraph and in some cases just one missing word to put you in a bad spot or change your rights completely.