Support as Obligation of Estate

[CourtClerk]

Courtclerk,

I keep rereading your last post. All I can think is wow what did he do to you, and what is a BFF?

BFF = my best friend

LOL...he did nothing TO me, however, since we are not married, my main focus is to care for and ensure the care of my son and because I work in Family Court, I am more skeptical than most. In fact, call me a pessimist in most situations. If I leave the money in trust to someone that I in fact trust with my life, then I won't have to come back from the dead to kill him if he decides to take my baby's money and misuse it. And I'm evil enough to do it...

My ex is mad at me because after he made me really mad, I had his CS modified from $254/mo to well over $1000/mo. That's enough to make anyone mad, but that's his problem, not mine. As I told him, you should have gone along with the program. Like I told him, it only hurts as he's writing the check and the faster he writes it, the faster I can deposit it.

 

[nextwife]

Actually, it makes a "not ex" potentially worth MORE if one makes them an ex!

Because, ONLY children "under an order" have any legal entitlement to a set amount of dollars from their deceased parent.

And here's an intriquing consideration: post-mortum modification?

If a party was ill, disabled or injured PRIOR to death and had not had time to modify to reflect their revised ability to earn after accident or disability, would their estate be ENTITLED to have the funds held out as obligation for support MODIFIED to reflect what they WOULD have likely payed out in CS had they lived to file the modification. I know, in our intact family, my father's income changed IMMEDIATELY upon the effects of the brain tumor occurring, then the changes of earning capacity continued his disabled, five years until death. (In other words, we had no "entitlement" to have household income from him remain exactly the same after his death, as if he'd never been sick) As the obligor's earning capacity would normally be modifiable if they had lived, shouldn't the estate be entitled to modify to reflect the same income adjustments the intact family would be experiencing?

Just wondering.

 

[CourtClerk]

You know Texas has always been a legal horse of a different color. I'm sure something like that will come down the pipeline soon (or maybe not), but makes perfect sense to me. All rights to the child support provisions SHOULD be in effect, including the right to modification by the executor of the estate or the trustee. Why not?

Usually post mortem modification would be modify to zero. I wonder how Texas would handle this if someone were to litigate.

 

[free_spirit_etc]

Intact families don't seem to get the same protections under the law. But you have an interesting point. It would seem like that could be done.

I think the OPs biggest problem might be if her husband WERE to die - she would be dealing with the death of her husband in Ohio - and a possible child support case going on down in Texas.

And, as a widow, I have certainly found that people are more than willing to jump in and take advantage of your vulnerability at the moment.

So it is very possible the ex would file for a support order against the estate - and NOT give the judge all the relevant information (how much the child would be recieving from Social Security, employers, etc.) and the OP would have to hire a lawyer in Texas or go to Texas to deal with that.

And - again - as a widow - I am finding that finding out all the details take TIME - but people want to jump and want their money NOW!

Child support can be a strange thing. I divorced my son's father in 1983. On our first court date I was informed that I could not get BACk child support for the several months it took us to get into court. They said Child Support could only be ordered for the FUTURE; not the PAST. So there was no consideration given to the cost of supporting my child before I could get into court.

However, I went to court with a friend one day. There were a lot of people there establishing paternity for their children. The judge informed the fathers that if they acknowledged the child was theirs or the child was found to be theirs - that child support could be ordered BACK TO THE DAY OF THE CHILD'S BIRTH!!!

I thought - well how unfair is that??? I was MARRIED to my son's father - so I couldn't get support for any time prior to the day the support was ordered (which was only the result of WAITING for a court date.)

But if I had a child by someone who didn't even KNOW he was a father - I can pop in when the child is 8 years old and say - "Guess what - you are his father"- and get child support ordered for EIGHT YEARS PRIOR!

I think that might be because often in those cases the back support goes toward reimbursing the State for the amount the State has spent supporting the child.

But still - to say the State deserves to be reimbursed and the parent does not - is not fair in my book.

Free

Actually, it makes a "not ex" potentially worth MORE if one makes them an ex!

Because, ONLY children "under an order" have any legal entitlement to a set amount of dollars from their deceased parent.

And here's an intriquing consideration: post-mortum modification?

If a party was ill, disabled or injured PRIOR to death and had not had time to modify to reflect their revised ability to earn after accident or disability, would their estate be ENTITLED to have the funds held out as obligation for support MODIFIED to reflect what they WOULD have likely payed out in CS had they lived to file the modification. I know, in our intact family, my father's income changed IMMEDIATELY upon the effects of the brain tumor occurring, then the changes of earning capacity continued his disabled, five years until death. (In other words, we had no "entitlement" to have household income from him remain exactly the same after his death, as if he'd never been sick) As the obligor's earning capacity would normally be modifiable if they had lived, shouldn't the estate be entitled to modify to reflect the same income adjustments the intact family would be experiencing?

Just wondering.

 

[nextwife]

Now that I'm thinking about it, it seems that there are all sorts of legal messes this law could create, with different states having different inheritance laws AND different community property laws. Does one's estate planning attorney in Rhode Island need to fully understand the Texas law to navigate how it will impact estate planning for a for a couple who have never lived in Texas? Not everyone can obtain enough life insurance to cover the exposure. High risk job, pre-existing condition, or, as in the father of my 10 year old daughter, his age (60+) limits how much insurance we can afford.

Does the spouse, and potentially also a sole parent, end up with all the debt responsibility of the deceased but not the estate assets to pay the creditors?

 

[Melody70]

Hi Everyone,

Well I talked to my insurance agent and we can get a $150,000 policy for $48 a month and she said that we could have two beneficiaries on it in case she doesn't get full amount. So that would be mine and her name and I could allocate however much was needed and I would get the rest.

But the other problem I can see happening is she likes to review the child support every year. So the amount that he owes could end up doubling.

 

[nextwife]

Hi Everyone,

Well I talked to my insurance agent and we can get a $150,000 policy for $48 a month and she said that we could have two beneficiaries on it in case she doesn't get full amount. So that would be mine and her name and I could allocate however much was needed and I would get the rest.

But the other problem I can see happening is she likes to review the child support every year. So the amount that he owes could end up doubling.

The FIRST $100,000 or so is the portion that costs the most. Betcha you could up the coverage another $100,000 for less than the $48. per month. But you may want to just a buy a policy that you own as well.

 

[curb1]

Melody,
Your insurance agent is getting into your pocket. There are policies available for half that price. All term insurance is the same. The difference in price is how much the agent sticks in their pocket for commission. You should be able to get what you need for about $25/month.

 

[Melody70]

curb1,

Thanks for the advice