Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Florida
My father passed away very, very suddenly while out of town on vacation. My parents have been seperated for about 10 years and to my knowledge I dont believe they made it a legal seperation but I do know they WERE NOT divorced. They have lived in seperate homes in seperate cities, my father did not have a WILL but he did have a life insurance policy that named her as the person who recieves monies, other then that I dont know much else. He had a job and had just asked me for my SS # since he was filling out paperwork for Life Insur at his job. My question is who is his next of kin..? My mom was at the Life Insur office 1 hour after his death and is all of a sudden the grieving widow however I have never heard her speak a nice word about my father for over 10 years, I am 28 year old man and have a 24 year old brother and both of my dad parents are 84 years old and alove and well...My mother has let us all know that EVERYTHING he has is hers and belive me it's not much but she is the type that has to be in control since she knows everything about everything...She wont tell me anything or let anyone be involved with anything and everything is about money and my dad's funeral is even until Friday, Is she able to do this and take everything or do me and my brother have any rights. She has even told me that if there was any money thru his work for me and my brother she would be in charge of when we could get it...The only thing I truly want from my father is to walk thru my door right now but the reality of it is he's not and I need to know if my mother who has turned into a monster has control of it all or if legally there is something my brother and I do have a say in...THANKS
2 Answers from Attorneys
I am so sorry to hear about your loss and my condolences to you and your family.
Unfortunately, the State of Florida does not recognize any legal separation so unless a dissolution of marriage petition was ever filed you may have an uphill battle on this one. Do you know if he had a will or a living trust anywhere at all?
Florida only recognizes divorces, so based upon what you have said, they were legally married. She does get the life insurance policy since she was named beneficiairy, But if he obtained another policy through work and named you beneficiary, you may be able to get those proceeds.
Florida gives great protection to spouses, and signficiantly less to children. So your mother is basically correct. However, if there is probatable assets, then some may come to you. One asset you did not mention was where he was living, and if he owned or rented. If he owned, then something might be there for the children.
I do not understand her statement of how she would be in charge of what you got if it was designated to you. That may have been true when the children were minors, but you and your brother have long passed the age of 18. But if she is implying there is a trust for the children, then it could be true. If you are a beneficiary of a trust, then you should have a right to a copy of it and accountings.
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