Any estate lawyers here? Need some advice.
In minnesota. A friend is dying so we are trying to get her legal docs in place. Problem: she is still legally married to a leech/bum/drug addict, they have 3 kids (16, 18, 20). Dad steals money from the kids. They have been separated for 11 years (not legally). How can we ensure he has no legal right to any of her estate and her kids get everything. And social security? He cannot have access to it. Dire need of help right now, time is of the essence.

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Going to a lawyer is not an option unfortunately. I keep trying to push her but she has no money to. She has more debt than assets, but she has a 401k and life insurance. We are going to put those in a living trust, will that be enough for her “husband” not to touch? And what about debt? Would they be able to go after items in a trust?

Thank you

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H may have a right to a portion of the 401(k), but W can leave the life insurance proceeds to whomever she wants. Suggest beneficiary be Name as Trustee for Kid1 & Kid2. See what can be done about setting up guardianships of the estate in the probate court for the children before she is too sick or dies. She can try to leave everything else in a revocable grantor trust fbo kids, but some states will allow a surviving spouse rights.

How about a quickie divorce???? Get it done ASAP-

Depends on the usual custom in your jurisdiction- probably in trust for Kid 1 and another ITF Kid2 with Trustee (trusted person- not H). Watch out for the divorce automatic orders that might forbid transfers of assets when divorce is pending.

Divorce atty for 30 years in MI. In this state you can’t “disinherit “ a spouse. Do all the trust stuff but get her divorced! Use the forms, call a family law attorney you know & tell her you’ve got an emergency & you need some pro Bono work done. We are ALL obligated to do some of that & this is one of those cases. A good attorney with relationships with judges & clerks can push this through. Get your trust in place, get a third party trustee, make sure she’s got a health care proxy or whatever they’re called in your state to make decisions if she becomes unable to-end of life decisions & to have power of attorney to finish that divorce even if she’s in a coma. You can do this. You just need someone who’s willing to step up. I do it when colleagues call & they do it when I call on them in their area of expertise. Good luck. So sorry for you & your friend & her children.

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