Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in North Carolina

You need to speak to a family law attorney. You have inheritance rights in your wife's estate if she passes before you divorce...but you have no right to inheritance rights to her mother's estate unless you were specifically named.

You have no rights if I am reading your post correctly. You say that your mother-in-law died and then your wife packed up and left you, correct?

If that is the case, any property devised by your mother-in-law to your wife is separate property. As long as your wife does not commingle it with marital property it is hers and hers alone including any increase in value.

The court is only concerned in divorce cases with dividing and valuing marital property. Separate property (which is property acquired before marriage or acquired during marriage by gift or inheritance) stays separate. That all said, depending on what your wife inherits, it could affect the ultimate division of marital assets or an award of alimony/post separation spousal support. To know for certain, I suggest that you consult with a family law attorney and get a marital settlement agreement done. You also have been separated for over a year. If there is no hope of reconciliation then its time to move on and get a divorce.

PS - although you are not asking about this, if your wife died while you are separated, there are all kinds of ramifications. You do not necessarily get to automatically inherit from your wife if she also died. There is a statute indicating that a spouse forfeits any rights of inheritance or to administer the estate of the other spouse who dies if a divorce is entered or if there is a valid marital settlement agreement. Further, if an action for equitable distribution is commenced and then your wife dies, it can continue. Again, rather than let further legal problems arise, see a family law attorney now and get the ball rolling on the divorce and division of marital assets.