Estate Administration
I/M/O Estate of Di Bella; Di Bella v. Di Bella
A Chancery Division judge has denied an estranged husband’s application to serve as Administrator to his wife’s estate. In this matter, the husband and wife were in the midst of a divorce when she died. The Chancery judge held that, if a plaintiff in a matrimonial matter dies intestate while the divorce complaint is pending, the estranged spouse is barred by, primarily, a conflict of interest, from becoming Administrator of the Estate. The application by the decedent’s son from a previous marriage to serve as Administrator was granted.
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This trial court decision highlights an inconsistency in the NJ intestate statutes. One section of the statutes prevents a spouse from taking their elective share of the other spouse’s estate after a divorvce complaint has been filed. However, the section of the statutes which sets forth a surviving spouse’s right to serve as the administrator of their deceaased spouse’s estate does not contain a provison which terminates that right after a divorce complaint has been filed.
For the obvious conflict of intereest reasons set forth in the court’s opinion, the legislature should amend the statutes to prevent a surviving spouse from serving as an administrator of the other spuse’s estate if an action for divorce is pending at the time of the death.
In 2004, in New Jersey, the man I lived with for 38 years died, intestate. He was still married. Although neither he nor his wife ever got a legal separation, he never saw her again until shortly before he died. I, myself, have never been legally married.
He and I had one child (a daughter) together. He has three sons by his wife.
In 1998, we purchased a house together, which he paid for (although the deed says “husband and wife” because I adopted his last name many years ago.) In fact, though I earned substantially more than he did when I was working (I now receive social security, and have very little in savings; we maintained separate bank accounts) he paid most of the maintenance on our homes.
My attorney wants to have a “constructive trust” imposed against the estate, in my behalf (is this considered palimony?) He also wants to bar the wife from receiving her intestate share of the estate, because they were separated for such a long time. I have searched for information about similar cases on the net in order to find out what the outcome might be in my own case, but have been unsuccessful. Most cases I have come across involve contracts between cohabitants.
I would appreciate some encouraging input regarding the legal ramifications.