C
cassandralue67
Guest
- Jurisdiction
- New Jersey
My mom is currently suing my dad's estate of which myself and 2 siblings were the beneficiaries. I am 28, my sister is 15, and our brother is 39 (he and I do not have the same mom) I am going to try to make this as simple as possible.
2011 - my parents got divorced (so i thought - technically was a divorce bed and board), my dad bought her out of the house for about $150K and she signed the house over to my dad. In the divorce it mentions that my dad is not entitled to my moms 401K or pension. The divorce decree also required my dad to have a life insurance policy of $100K for my little sister. (he lost his job and did not have life insurance at the time he passed)
2014 - my dad receives notification that he is to receive a pension from a job he previously had (this was a surprise) - he takes the lump sum and tells my brother and I about it.
2015 - my dad passes away
My mom somehow found out about the pension and is suing the estate for the amount, plus damages, and attorney fees. She is also now trying to add in the life insurance policy. My dad spent the majority of the money on his healthcare and living expenses while he was sick. We used some to manage the estate as well so there is not much left anyway.
She says because they were technically still married that she is entitled to it. Is this really true? My dad didn't know he was getting a pension when the divorce decree was written which outlines that hers cannot be touched. Shouldn't the lawyers have done a better job on my dad's behalf?
Also, the company my dad worked for told my mom about the pension because she works there too. As far as I know, the company didn't recognize them as married, and she was not on any of his paperwork as a contact, Isn't that against the law? Can we do anything about it?
To top it all of, my mom stopped paying her attorney who removed herself as counsel (my mom is truly a piece of work), now what does that mean for us? We have attorneys who are fighting this, but we are racking up the bills, and it just doesn't all make sense to me. Please help me to understand.
2011 - my parents got divorced (so i thought - technically was a divorce bed and board), my dad bought her out of the house for about $150K and she signed the house over to my dad. In the divorce it mentions that my dad is not entitled to my moms 401K or pension. The divorce decree also required my dad to have a life insurance policy of $100K for my little sister. (he lost his job and did not have life insurance at the time he passed)
2014 - my dad receives notification that he is to receive a pension from a job he previously had (this was a surprise) - he takes the lump sum and tells my brother and I about it.
2015 - my dad passes away
My mom somehow found out about the pension and is suing the estate for the amount, plus damages, and attorney fees. She is also now trying to add in the life insurance policy. My dad spent the majority of the money on his healthcare and living expenses while he was sick. We used some to manage the estate as well so there is not much left anyway.
She says because they were technically still married that she is entitled to it. Is this really true? My dad didn't know he was getting a pension when the divorce decree was written which outlines that hers cannot be touched. Shouldn't the lawyers have done a better job on my dad's behalf?
Also, the company my dad worked for told my mom about the pension because she works there too. As far as I know, the company didn't recognize them as married, and she was not on any of his paperwork as a contact, Isn't that against the law? Can we do anything about it?
To top it all of, my mom stopped paying her attorney who removed herself as counsel (my mom is truly a piece of work), now what does that mean for us? We have attorneys who are fighting this, but we are racking up the bills, and it just doesn't all make sense to me. Please help me to understand.