DEATH is a topic hardly anyone wants to talk about. But there’s certainly been an uptick in unprepared deaths since the pandemic began. By “unprepared,” I’m referring to persons who pass away not expecting to die at that point in time in their lives.
I would be surprised if much of these people left behind a Will, which is a legal document directing what is to be done with their belongings after they pass away.
If you die without having made a Will, it is said that you die “intestate”. In that case, the law dictates how your estate will be shared. Currently, if you die with a spouse and children surviving you, the law states that one half of the estate goes to the spouse and the other half must be shared by the children. At the outset this may seem somewhat fair. But, as I will explain below, this law may be much too simplistic and should be changed to afford greater fairness to vulnerable spouses.
What if the children of the deceased person are adults who were not dependant on the deceased, but on the other hand, the spouse (eg, a housewife) was? And further, what if the children are step-children of the spouse and there isn’t a good relationship between them? When it comes to the matrimonial home (the place where a husband and wife lived as a married couple and usually the largest asset of the estate), this becomes a very big issue. By law, one half of the interest in the matrimonial home would go to the spouse and the other half shared equally by the children. It does not matter that the children have homes of their own, have good jobs and are secure financially.
If they are not on good terms and particularly if the spouse is of little means, the children of the deceased can make the spouse’s ability to live comfortably and peacefully in the home very difficult. Legally, if the spouse wants to continue exclusively living in the matrimonial home, the children can demand compensation, even rent, from the spouse! That’s not all… They can even invoke certain laws to apply to the High Court to have the matrimonial home sold!
It seems manifestly unfair to vulnerable spouses to treat matrimonial homes the same as every other asset of a deceased person where they die intestate. I firmly believe that in the least, the laws should be amended to allow spouses the unfettered right to live peacefully in the matrimonial home for all of their natural lives if they so choose. And in situations where the surviving children are adults who were not financially dependent on the deceased at the time of their passing, I hold the view the law should be changed to give the spouse the entire interest in the matrimonial home.
It is uncanny how mean even natural adult children can be to a surviving parent. Where that surviving parent has financial and economic vulnerabilities, the law can certainly do better to protect them from hardship after their spouse passes away unexpectedly and intestate. Food for thought. Be safe Trinidad and Tobago.
Civil Litigation Attorney at Law & Certified Mediator.
Disclaimer:The contents of this article are for general informative purposes only and/or contain the opinions and/or thoughts of the writer only. It does not provide legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader. For legal advice on your specific situation, please contact an Attorney-at-Law of your choosing directly. Liability for any loss or damage of any kind whatsoever allegedly incurred a consequence of relying on content in this article is thus hereby excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.
Leaving Behind a Spouse, Adult Children
DEATH is a topic hardly anyone wants to talk about. But there’s certainly been an uptick in unprepared deaths since the pandemic began. By “unprepared,” I’m referring to persons who pass away not expecting to die at that point in time in their lives.
I would be surprised if much of these people left behind a Will, which is a legal document directing what is to be done with their belongings after they pass away.
If you die without having made a Will, it is said that you die “intestate”. In that case, the law dictates how your estate will be shared. Currently, if you die with a spouse and children surviving you, the law states that one half of the estate goes to the spouse and the other half must be shared by the children. At the outset this may seem somewhat fair. But, as I will explain below, this law may be much too simplistic and should be changed to afford greater fairness to vulnerable spouses.
What if the children of the deceased person are adults who were not dependant on the deceased, but on the other hand, the spouse (eg, a housewife) was? And further, what if the children are step-children of the spouse and there isn’t a good relationship between them? When it comes to the matrimonial home (the place where a husband and wife lived as a married couple and usually the largest asset of the estate), this becomes a very big issue. By law, one half of the interest in the matrimonial home would go to the spouse and the other half shared equally by the children. It does not matter that the children have homes of their own, have good jobs and are secure financially.
If they are not on good terms and particularly if the spouse is of little means, the children of the deceased can make the spouse’s ability to live comfortably and peacefully in the home very difficult. Legally, if the spouse wants to continue exclusively living in the matrimonial home, the children can demand compensation, even rent, from the spouse! That’s not all… They can even invoke certain laws to apply to the High Court to have the matrimonial home sold!
It seems manifestly unfair to vulnerable spouses to treat matrimonial homes the same as every other asset of a deceased person where they die intestate. I firmly believe that in the least, the laws should be amended to allow spouses the unfettered right to live peacefully in the matrimonial home for all of their natural lives if they so choose. And in situations where the surviving children are adults who were not financially dependent on the deceased at the time of their passing, I hold the view the law should be changed to give the spouse the entire interest in the matrimonial home.
It is uncanny how mean even natural adult children can be to a surviving parent. Where that surviving parent has financial and economic vulnerabilities, the law can certainly do better to protect them from hardship after their spouse passes away unexpectedly and intestate. Food for thought. Be safe Trinidad and Tobago.
Copyright © 2022 Neela Ramsundar, LL.B (HONS), L.E.C
Civil Litigation Attorney at Law & Certified Mediator.
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are for general informative purposes only and/or contain the opinions and/or thoughts of the writer only. It does not provide legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader. For legal advice on your specific situation, please contact an Attorney-at-Law of your choosing directly. Liability for any loss or damage of any kind whatsoever allegedly incurred a consequence of relying on content in this article is thus hereby excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.