Leaving in limbo

After what I mentioned yesterday, I was reminded of something from awhile back. A co-worker share a sad story with us one day over lunch several months ago. A dear friend of hers had died after battling an illness. The friend was in her late 50s or 60s.

She was married, but the couple had been separated for five years. She had begun divorce proceedings shortly before her illness. Unfortunately, she expired before the process was complete. She had also never updated her will to reflect the change in the status of her marriage. Everything was left to her husband. The problem was he was nowhere to be found. No one had seen or heard from him for more than a year. It was implied that he was an unfriendly soul not likely to be located easily.

In the Midwest state where she lived, the rule of law is that all possessions pass to the surviving spouse and every effort must be made to find the person. In the meantime, her sister became executor of the will. She dealt with settling the estate - the bills, legal paperwork, selling the house, etc. - all this knowing that she would not inherit any of it. She couldn't even take a framed photo from the house because, technically, that would be stealing the husband's property.

Even worse, if the legal amount of time passes and the husband cannot be found, everything passes to his son (a child from a previous marriage). Someone who she had no relationship with. How unfortunate is that?!!

This story was shared with a lesson in mind - update your will regularly.