If your loved one passes away without creating a valid and enforceable Last Will and Testament document, their estate may go into intestacy. This means that their estate may be distributed according to New York’s intestate succession laws rather than their expressed wishes. Usually, a surviving spouse takes priority in this hierarchy. So, you may become increasingly concerned if you were the long-term partner of your deceased loved one but never legally married. If this is your current predicament, please follow along to find out whether intestate succession will include an unmarried partner and how a proficient Putnam County probate lawyer at the Law Office of Andres D. Gil, PLLC, can advocate for you.
Does New York’s intestate succession consider an unmarried partner or long-term companion?
Most unfortunately, New York’s intestate succession laws generally do not allow unmarried partners and long-term companions to inherit anything from the deceased’s estate. Of note, this is regardless of how long you two have been in a relationship, how financially intertwined you two were, whether you two raised shared children together, etc. At the end of the day, intestate succession is based solely on legally observed relationships, like marriages, and not relationships based on emotional closeness or shared life circumstances.
The silver lining here may be that you may still have a chance to inherit non-probate assets that intestacy laws do not control. For example, you may have a real estate property in which both your names are on the title or a joint bank account. Or, your partner may have named you as the designated beneficiary of their life insurance policy or retirement accounts. Lastly, they may have set up a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death account before their passing with you in mind. Rest assured, a lawyer can help protect your rights to these assets.
What happens if the deceased has surviving children from a previous relationship?
Another common question we get is how intestate succession works when there is a surviving spouse with no shared children with the deceased, but the deceased has surviving children from a previous relationship. Well, the short answer is that all biological children, legally adopted children, and even estranged children of the deceased alike have equal inheritance rights. A relevant note is that this rule applies regardless of whether or not these children came from an unmarried partner or long-term companion.
Specifically, under New York’s system, a surviving spouse will get the first $50,000 of the estate and half of the balance. Then, all children with an established legal parentage will receive equal shares of the remaining property and assets. And so, to reiterate, an unmarried partner or long-term companion is still not included in this equation. With all that being said, please do not hesitate to work together with a talented Putnam County probate lawyer. The team at the Law Offices of Andres D. Gil, PLLC, will have your best interests at heart always and will fight for justice to reign in your favor.
