My brothers assets are in both his and his wifes name. His wife has one daughter. When my brothers wife dies, will the portion of her assets default to her daughter or will the assets belong to my brother entirely?
Retiredpa: I made a huge error in a word, duplicity. I meant "duplicate." I am so, so sorry! Making errors is something I don't like. Please accept my sincerest apology!
freqflyer: Thanks for coming back on this thread and posting that courteous message! Retiredpa, all of us here on this forum try to be helpful and cheerful.
Retiredpa, we let other writers know of the duplication out of courtesy.... that way if someone had answered the other post, later come across this post and not see their answer, we wouldn't want that poster to think their answer was remvoed.
Llamalover47 I want to let you know I don't keep posting this..... I assume that someone else is doing that! I don't post this over and over expecting a different answer. I posted it once and asked the question and I have gotten some very good answers but feel free to "ignore" it if you have to read it again. There is no need for you to answer again!
They did not have any children together. Her daughter is from a previous relationship. My brother is trying to refinance his home and was asked to go to closing, of course, but his house is in his and his wife's name. Since she has Alzheimer's, she cannot go to closing with him and he doesn't have POA, the bank will not let him refinance his home! He was trying to get financial help in order to have someone help him take care of her. Her daughter has almost entirely quit coming around to help and he is desperate. He has a severe heart condition but his wife was unable to get on disability due to her not working for the last 7 years before he tried to get her on disability and he makes too much money in retirement to get any kind of assistance. We recently tried to get help through his military service but, again, they told him "until you are spending more money than you are taking in, we can't help you"...... I live in PA and he lives in VA and I travel there as often as I can to help him but I will soon be 70 years old myself and not in perfect condition so I am trying to help him find a way through this mess!
If the assets are JTWROS (Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship) they pass outside of probate and immediately (upon the death of the other co-owner) are owned fully by the surviving co-owner. Thus, any will of the wife is irrelevant.
Retiredpa, If they are legally married, if she predeceases your brother all assets should remain with your brother given that you said the assets were co-owned equally by both. The difficulty comes not with your brother but his wife's daughter because if wife does not specifically stipulate by either her will (not POA) that she wants something to go to her daughter or specifically set her as POD beneficiary to some account or via a trust, the daughter will have to depend upon your brother to leave her something via his will or designated POD when he dies.
If they are not legally married, she does not have a will, and there are assets that are just in her name, then when she passes the government will decide who gets what and those assets will likely go to her nearest kin/daughter. However, if it can be proven that the assets were your brothers prior to the joining of their names on the account/s or that the assets came from an inheritance given solely to him and that those assets were deposited into a joint account, then they may revert to him, but possibly with some contention.
Do they have any children together?
This can be complicated as there are many ways to name financial accounts other legally-titled assets. If your brother is concerned, please have him check with a local elder-care attorney because there could be some state-specific laws that could bend this in either direction. I've learned from experience hiring a lawyer is often well-worth the cost for peace-of-mind that nothing is going to come unexpectedly in the future.
Depends on where they live. Community property states divide the property with surviving spouse. Children of former marriages need to be mentioned in order to receive benefits.
Too late for POA if she has Alzheimer's, she cannot sign the papers. Besides, POA ends at death. Then the Will takes over. If there is no Will, then the state laws determine who gets what of her assets. If the assets are all in joint accounts, and they are all JTWRS (joint tenants with rights of survival) then it all goes to him. My advice is he needs to gather up all the account statements and the Wills and sit down with a lawyer. One hour with a lawyer can avoid costly mistakes.
https://www.agingcare.com/questions/How-does-a-husband-keep-from-losing-financial-control-if-they-didnt-get-POA-before-Alzheimers-was-di-215508.htm
If they are not legally married, she does not have a will, and there are assets that are just in her name, then when she passes the government will decide who gets what and those assets will likely go to her nearest kin/daughter. However, if it can be proven that the assets were your brothers prior to the joining of their names on the account/s or that the assets came from an inheritance given solely to him and that those assets were deposited into a joint account, then they may revert to him, but possibly with some contention.
Do they have any children together?
This can be complicated as there are many ways to name financial accounts other legally-titled assets. If your brother is concerned, please have him check with a local elder-care attorney because there could be some state-specific laws that could bend this in either direction. I've learned from experience hiring a lawyer is often well-worth the cost for peace-of-mind that nothing is going to come unexpectedly in the future.
If the assets are all in joint accounts, and they are all JTWRS (joint tenants with rights of survival) then it all goes to him. My advice is he needs to gather up all the account statements and the Wills and sit down with a lawyer. One hour with a lawyer can avoid costly mistakes.