When Is a Spouse a “Putative” Spouse?
Remarriages often produce discord within families, especially between a new spouse and the children of a former spouse, and unfortunately, this can lead to open hostilities over a deceased parent's estate. Careful estate planning can help preempt extended litigation, but it is important that all legal documentation is properly executed and uptodate.
Any ambiguity in a person's legal status will only force a judge to decide the issue later, costing your estate and family members time and money. A recent case from the California Court of Appeals provides a cautionary example.
Estate of Issa
This case is discussed here for informational purposes only and should not be construed as a binding statement of California law. The
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In September 2003, Malek, her brother and Issa travelled from California to Nevada. Malek and
Issa purportedly married at the Clark County clerk's office in Las Vegas. Thereafter they lived as a married couple until Issa's death in 2010 from cancer.
After Issa's death, Malek filed a petition to probate his will and be appointed executor of his estate. Two of Issa's children objected. They claimed their stepmother's marriage to Issa was never legal. To that end, one of the children obtained a judgment from Nevada declaring Issa and Malek's marriage certificate invalid.
Despite this, a California probate judge ruled Malek was still entitled to recognition as Issa's
“putative spouse.” A putative spouse is someone who is not legally married but had a good faith believe that they were. In Malek's case, she had every reason to believe her Nevada marriage was valid up until Issa's death. The probate court said she was not aware of any defects in the marriage certificate, which were apparently the result of Issa's unilateral misconduct. Therefore
Malek should not be punished or lose her inheritance rights as a widowed spouse.
Facts: Plaintiff Donald Eschbach and Defendant Rite Eschbach were married in 1963 and divorce in 1979 the courts granted Plaintiff Eschbach the divorce on the basis of the couple lived separate and apart pursuant to a separation agreement for one year. The custody of the couple three children was granted to the mother to an oral stipulation of the parties entered in the minute of the court at inquest of the hearing held on January 1979. The stipulation, which also provided visitation rights for the children’s father, was incorporated but not merged in the judgment of the divorce.
issue was a daily part of their lives. The law turned a blind eye to
Totenberg, N. (2013, April 16). Adoption Case Brings Rare Family Law Dispute To High Court.
The case comes from the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine. The parties involved were David and Katherine Graves and S.E. Downey Registered Land Surveyor, P.A. S.E. Downey is owned by Stephen Downey, a registered land surveyor and shareholder of the company. His son, Patrick, is an employee who helped on the Graves’ home project, under the supervision of his father.
Family / p. 442: Two or more people who consider themselves related by blood, marriage, or adoption.
Section 11.1 of the BIA requires the Superintendent to retain the information contained within each estate file for a prescribed period. This digitization procedure enables OSB employees to scan the paper copy of an estate file, upload it to E-filing, and destroy the paper document while ensuring the integrity of the estate file information is maintained. The paper copy of the scanned estate file cannot be destroyed unless this procedure is followed. This procedure applies to all OSB employees.
Emami & Ishmal [2013] FamCA 735 (26 December 2013) is a civil law suit of Ms Ishmal having sole parental custody towards the three children. Main arguments in Ms Ishmal having sole custody of the children, is that the father has been convicted of several accounts of assault upon Ms Ishmal and an assault towards child A. These dates consist on June 2004, November 2006 and January 2011.
Before you take any actions towards acting on behalf of the deceased you must figure out who can actually act on behalf of the
Blanchette) only intended to confer survivorship rights. The court established a rule that establishes a rule that joint tenancy normally by default is an immediate gifts unless there is strong evidence that proves that the donor intended to convey survivorship rights using joint tenancy as a revocable will substitute or had another intention. irrevocable property rights the question of ownership of property acquired by one party but placed in joint names is one of fact: it depends on the intent of the funding party. The court’s reasoning is based on the fact that a will substitute trend was occurring at the time. Many individuals made the choice to confer survivorship rights of their estate through will substitutes, using them as a revocable gift that could be left to survivors instead of using the traditional probate will. The court wanted to give will substitutes legal
then convicted under the Stolen Valor Act and sentenced to a fine. In the appeals
Based on their conversation, on December 30, 1963, Wolodzko and Dr. Anthony Smyk upon request of the plaintiff’s husband without her consent or knowledge signed a promised
Trial Court dismissed the complaint. Court of Appeals reversed it. California Supreme Court reversed Court of Appeals
On July 11, 1958 a couple of hours after midnight, Richard Loving a white man and Mildred Loving an African American woman were awakened to the presence of three officers in their bedroom. One of the three officers demanded from Richard to identify the woman next to him. Mildred, full of fear, told the officers that she was his wife, while Richard pointed to the marriage license on the wall. The couple was then charged and later found guilty in violation of the state's anti-miscegenation statute.
Imelda Bechstein went from enjoying a cruise with her husband, Ernst Bechstein, to becoming a missing woman. Imelda vanished from the ship as the couple were traveling from Sardinia, Italy, back to their home country of Germany.
Most Recent Court Activity: Petition for Writ of Certiorari granted by the United States Supreme Court on 23 June 2014. This case was most recently ruled on 22 November 2013 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.