Hi all,
I have been married for 18 years to a compulsive gambler. I've finally had all that I can stand and am considering a divorce. When we were married, my husband was a widower with two small children, so I quit my job to stay home with the kids. Our youngest is now 13 years old, and I have been out of the work place for nearly two decades. My husband left his 25 year job six years ago on a disability retirement....depression and anxiety are the named disabilities. Needless to say, between the reduced income from the retirement, and him being a gambler, we have NO financial assets to divide except for the equity in our home.
Eight years ago, we built an apartment onto our home and moved in my in-laws after my father-in-law was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. For two years, I helped care for him, and drove the two of them everywhere they wanted or needed to go. My father-in-law went into a nursing home, and for the next two years, I drove my mother-in-law 40 miles round trip, almost daily, so that she could visit him. In the years that they've been with us, we have paid for all of the household expenses, gas, vehicle maintenance.....everything.
My father-in-law has since passed, and his wife is rather well off. It was always understood that my husband would be inheriting a considerable sum when his now 86 year old mother passes. My question is.....if I am not named in her will, am I entitled to any portion of his inheritance? I thought that I heard somewhere that inheritance money is not considered as marital equity.
I doubt that it matters, but both of my parents passed away during our marriage, and while I was left only a fraction of what he expects to receive from his parents, the monies that I inherited went toward paying off his gambling debts!
THANKS for any advice you can give me!!
jma
I have been married for 18 years to a compulsive gambler. I've finally had all that I can stand and am considering a divorce. When we were married, my husband was a widower with two small children, so I quit my job to stay home with the kids. Our youngest is now 13 years old, and I have been out of the work place for nearly two decades. My husband left his 25 year job six years ago on a disability retirement....depression and anxiety are the named disabilities. Needless to say, between the reduced income from the retirement, and him being a gambler, we have NO financial assets to divide except for the equity in our home.
Eight years ago, we built an apartment onto our home and moved in my in-laws after my father-in-law was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. For two years, I helped care for him, and drove the two of them everywhere they wanted or needed to go. My father-in-law went into a nursing home, and for the next two years, I drove my mother-in-law 40 miles round trip, almost daily, so that she could visit him. In the years that they've been with us, we have paid for all of the household expenses, gas, vehicle maintenance.....everything.
My father-in-law has since passed, and his wife is rather well off. It was always understood that my husband would be inheriting a considerable sum when his now 86 year old mother passes. My question is.....if I am not named in her will, am I entitled to any portion of his inheritance? I thought that I heard somewhere that inheritance money is not considered as marital equity.
I doubt that it matters, but both of my parents passed away during our marriage, and while I was left only a fraction of what he expects to receive from his parents, the monies that I inherited went toward paying off his gambling debts!
THANKS for any advice you can give me!!
jma
