divorce situation...need help please

[swoopie716]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

My mother and step-father were married for approximately 15 years. About two years ago, they separated and eventually decided to get a divorce. The final divorce papers were signed and notarized in September but were never filed with the courts. My mother was terminally ill and couldn't go to the court herself to do it. My mother passed away last week and the papers were never filed although the divorce was opened as a case with the courts.

Is my step-father still legally entitled to her estate? Can I file the papers for her to make things official with the court? If so, how do I go about this?

Thank you for your help.

 

[Dandy Don]

Yes, unfortunately he is. Do you have any idea of the value of the estate? He is entitled to a certain portion by law and any surplus over that the children are entitled to.

 

[latigo]

Swoopie:

Please scrap the idea of attempting to posthumously file mother’s “divorce papers”. (If for no other reason than avoiding embarrassment in front of the clerk of the court.)

But more importantly, because if your mother and your stepfather were married at the date of her death, THEN he is her surviving spouse, PERIOD!

And he will be treated as her surviving spouse in the distribution and settlement of her estate, regardless of whether they were living separate and apart; regardless of her intentions to end the marriage and irrespective of her having prepared those divorce papers before her death.
____________

In view of the scarcity of information as to the nature and character of your mother’s estate - how and when and with what those assets were acquired, how they were held, whether she died testate or intestate, etc. etc., your question of what are the surviving husband’s entitlements from her estate cannot be answered. At least not from a professional point of view.

However, if you have some burning desire to listen to pure guesswork and sophistry, stick by DD.