{"id":431,"date":"2015-09-17T11:01:36","date_gmt":"2015-09-17T15:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flestatelaw.com\/?p=431"},"modified":"2019-05-13T18:28:41","modified_gmt":"2019-05-13T18:28:41","slug":"surprise-you-cant-easily-disinherit-your-spouse-in-the-u-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/localwebdesigncompany.com\/goodwinlaw\/2015\/09\/17\/surprise-you-cant-easily-disinherit-your-spouse-in-the-u-s\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprise!  You Can\u2019t Easily Disinherit Your Spouse in the U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\tIt is not easy to disinherit your spouse in the United States. People\u00a0commonly\u00a0use their\u00a0estate plans to disinherit\u00a0brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and\u00a0even their\u00a0very own children and grandchildren.\u00a0However, in Florida, and the majority of states and the District of Columbia, you cannot intentionally disinherit your spouse unless your spouse actually agrees\u00a0to receive nothing from your estate in a Prenuptial\u00a0or Postnuptial Agreement.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Beware: Spousal Disinheritance Laws Vary Widely From State to State<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately there is not one set of rules that govern what a surviving spouse is entitled to inherit. Instead, the laws governing spousal inheritance rights,\u00a0referred to as \u201ccommunity property laws\u201d or \u201celective share laws\u201d depending on the state where you live or own property. These laws vary widely.\u00a0In some states the surviving spouse&#8217;s right to inherit is based on:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>how long the\u00a0couple was married.<\/li>\n<li>whether or not children were born of the marriage.<\/li>\n<li>the value of assets included in the deceased spouse\u2019s probate estate.<\/li>\n<li>an \u201caugmented estate\u201d which includes the deceased spouse\u2019s probate estate and non-probate assets.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For example, in Florida a surviving spouse has the option to receive a portion of\u00a0his or her deceased spouse&#8217;s estate called\u00a0the &#8220;elective share.&#8221;\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flsenate.gov\/Laws\/Statutes\/2015\/732.201\">Fla. Stat. \u00a7 732.201<\/a>.\u00a0This share is equal to\u00a030% of the deceased spouse&#8217;s &#8220;elective estate.&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flsenate.gov\/Laws\/Statutes\/2015\/732.2065\">Fla. Stat. \u00a7 732.2065<\/a>. In Florida, the elective estate includes\u00a0the value of the deceased spouse&#8217;s probate estate and certain non-probate assets such as payable on death and transfer on death accounts, joint accounts, the net cash surrender value of life insurance, property held in a revocable living trust, and annuities and other types of retirement accounts, reduced by the deceased spouse&#8217;s debts (this is an example of the last category described above, the \u201caugmented estate\u201d). For a complete list of property entering into elective estate, read <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flsenate.gov\/Laws\/Statutes\/2015\/732.2035\">section 732.2035, Florida Statutes.<\/a> For a list of sources from which the elective share is payable, see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flsenate.gov\/Laws\/Statutes\/2015\/732.2075\">section 732.2075, Florida Statutes.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Aside from this, state laws also vary widely regarding the time limit a surviving spouse has to seek their inheritance rights, which can range anywhere from a few months to a few years.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Disinherited Spouses Need to Act Quickly!<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.mattgoodwinlaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/hour_glass.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"266\" height=\"200\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If your spouse has attempted to disinherit you, you must seek legal advice as soon as possible before state law bars you from enforcing your rights. Only an experienced estate planning attorney can help you weigh all of your options and protect your interests as a surviving spouse.<\/p>\n<p>Matt Goodwin is an Estate Planning attorney in Naples, FL. You can reach him at his office by calling (239) 302-1700. You can also make an appointment online via his website <a href=\"http:\/\/www.swfloridaestatelaw.com\">www.swfloridaestatelaw.com<\/a>. Or you may email him directly at <a href=\"mailto:matt@swfloridaestatelaw.com\">matt@swfloridaestatelaw.com<\/a>.\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is not easy to disinherit your spouse in the United States. People\u00a0commonly\u00a0use their\u00a0estate plans to disinherit\u00a0brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and\u00a0even their\u00a0very own children and grandchildren.\u00a0However, in Florida, and the majority of states and the District of Columbia, you cannot intentionally disinherit your spouse unless your spouse actually agrees\u00a0to receive nothing from your estate in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":434,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[46,47,48],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/localwebdesigncompany.com\/goodwinlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/localwebdesigncompany.com\/goodwinlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/localwebdesigncompany.com\/goodwinlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/localwebdesigncompany.com\/goodwinlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/localwebdesigncompany.com\/goodwinlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/localwebdesigncompany.com\/goodwinlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5704,"href":"https:\/\/localwebdesigncompany.com\/goodwinlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431\/revisions\/5704"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/localwebdesigncompany.com\/goodwinlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/localwebdesigncompany.com\/goodwinlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/localwebdesigncompany.com\/goodwinlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/localwebdesigncompany.com\/goodwinlaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}