Legal Question in Family Law in Maine

marriage

If a person has been divorced and owns their own home and the get re-married but has a will leaving the house and all assets to the 4 children from the previous marriage, does the new spouse have any legal claim to the home in the event of the owners death?


Asked on 3/15/07, 10:26 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Jerome Gamache Ainsworth Thelin & Raftice, P.A.

Re: marriage

It's difficult to say without knowing all of the precise facts, the specific will language and the record ownership of the real estate. As a general rule, a surviving spouse may elect against a will in order to get a percentage of the deceased spouse's Estate. If the will simply left everything to the children and nothing to the spouse, it seems that the surviving spouse may indeed have a claim.

Since it would depend on the specific facts, I would need to discuss it further to provide a more specific example.

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Answered on 3/15/07, 12:48 pm


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