Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in North Carolina

Without seeing any of the documents, I cannot say. Generally, a divorce revokes terms in a will in favor of an ex-spouse. But an annuity is a non-probate asset. Divorce does not revoke these designations. In any event, you were not married to the former mother-in-law so the divorce does not matter, but your ex-husband may think that the estate divorce rules somehow apply.

It is unlikely, but do any of your divorce settlement papers concern the division of this asset? If not, then its probably yours.

I am sure that this is not what either your ex-husband or his mother would have wanted, but that is not necessariloy your problem if the beneficiary was not changed and if you did not procure the designation of yourself as beneficiary through fraud or undue influence.

Has your ex-husband sent you any kind of legal document or obtained an attorney? If so, you may want to get your own attorney to review the papers and respond. If not, you may want to be proactive and still get your own attorney to review the information. If the money is yours, then the attorney can send your ex-husband a letter and explain why you get to keep the money.