need professional advise

[chelsie]

I need your professional advise.

I've been with my husband for 22 years, 4 years ago we decided to make it legal, when he applied for a marriage licence, he was told that he was still married......................... he forgot to send the paper back to the lawyer, therefore he was married for 18 years of our relationship. We have savings, pension, home, etc.................

Is the former wife has the right to the savings, pension, etc........... or is this married void due to the period of time??

Or if we get divorced, do I get 22 years of half or 4 years??

Please give me some advise on this.

Thanking you in advance

[logicalvelocity]

chelsie,

I am not a professional but after reading your post, I have to comment that legally your partner is still married. I think you aware of that already. Is there a separation agreement in effect? If so, a great many separation agreements have language in them to survive divorce.

It is difficult to comment without knowing your jurisdiction and all the facts.

On the face of it,the situation is somewhat problematic. This is to say, if something should happen to your partner in the interim before a divorce is granted, the ex spouse could bring forth a claim against the pensions, perhaps the home and estate. At the very least make sure the individual does indeed have a will in place that delegates his wishes.

I would recommend you get this matter straightened out as soon as possible.

lv

[chelsie]

the Seperation agreement was done 22 years ago, she got half of everything and allomoney for 7 years..................then 4 years ago we find out that he is still married, but now he's divorce and married to me (4 years) my concern is the 18 years that the papers were not sign, can she come back and get our estate. Hopefully I will get a professional legal advise on what I should do.

Thanks

[logicalvelocity]

chelsie,

I'm not entirely clear on this:

He is still married to his ex spouse, due to no divorce being granted and having a valid separation agreement in effect.

Since that relationship has ended with his former spouse; Has he entered into a marriage or a common law relationship with you?


Are you located in Ontario?

lv

[Lindsay]

I think chelsie and her husband have been together 22 years.. 18 years common law and 4 years married. Only right before their marriage did her husband discover that he was actually still married to his first wife.

[chelsie]

yes we married 4 years ago, what I'm concerned about is the 18 years that I was with him as common law wife, (he was still married) but did not know.

[logicalvelocity]

chelsie,

It is much clearer now.

If his divorce has been granted, I would think this is a final severance of all ties so to speak. I could be wrong.

It appears everything has been equalized. To be on the safe side, your husband should designate yourself as a beneficiary to the pension and moreover have a last will and testament in place that designates you as the beneficiary and executor/ estate trustee. Your husband should also have a power of attorney in place in case he is not able to act.

Some tips

Your name should be on your home as a co-owner. Another thing to look at is to verify the beneficiary designation with life insurance companies if any. Verify beneficiary information with employers etc. Generally, Life insurance policies are excluded from an estate by default.

I suspect his pension was equalized at the time of their separation. However it wouldn't hurt to verify. Most likely the separation agreement took care of this. Be sure to read the historical separation agreement.

I was once given this advice, for estranged relatives and others whom may contest a last will and bring forth a claim; leave the sum of 1 (ONE) dollar to the former wife or any other person in his will whom may bring forth a claim. This shows that he thought of her/ them when drafting the will. They can't say they were excluded from same.

Ultimately, I would indeed speak to a lawyer such as Jeff and make sure the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted on this issue. It appears to be a significant amount on the line and it pays to have solid estate planning in place if the unexpected were to happen. You can't do this soon enough.


lv