Legal Question in Family Law in Florida
My husband and I were going through a divorce in the court system. We were not legally separated or divorce to date. He passed back in May with no conclusion with the exception of mediation papers that his parents were the power of attorney and to date nothing has been finalized. These were signed May 22nd and he passed the 24th). I was informed that HIS lawyer would be filing papers to close this case, however the mediation agreement should still be followed through back on April 14th and to date nothing has been submitted. In following through to obtain a death certificate which I needed to go through another county to receive, I got a phone call informing me today that the certificate will be forwarded, however it will not indicate the cause of death, which I requested, because it was marked that he is Divorced. This is not legally; true. I was representing myself in this case due to financial reasons (unemployed now for almost a year) and would like to be guided where I could go on my own to follow through. I have left a message with the case manager at the courts and requesting a response legally where I stand. Thank you
1 Answer from Attorneys
Guess what? You'll never be divorced, at least not from this person. You are now a widow, and your divorce case needs to be dismissed. It cannot continue, even though you settled. You must now file a Suggestion of Death with a copy of the death certificate attached (cause of death is irrelevant unless you were somehow involved) and a motion to dismiss your divorce.
You will now inherit from him instead of receive from him according to the divorce. This means you'll receive somewhere between 30% and 100% of everything he owned. You'll have to talk to a probate lawyer to be certain of how much. Sorry about your loss, especially if you had kids, but you'll probably do better in probate than in divorce court.
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