Do Surviving Spouses have Rights?

Dan Rose

What is Spousal Election & Protection?

Spousal right of election in New York is a law where a surviving spouse is entitled to receive up to $50,000 or 1/3 of the total assets value from their spouse, even if they were left less than that under a will and beneficiary designations. As defined in the New York’s Spousal Right of Election NY laws you can be protected if you act quickly and work with an experienced estate attorney. Let’s take a look at a few cases of how the law can be used in your favor

Case 1: Need to know facts of case 1: Beneficiary Designations

  1. The couple was separated for several years before one spouse passed away.
  2. The family of the deceased individual claimed the spouse abandoned the now deceased spouse and forfeited their rights to spousal right of election
  3. A petition was filed to the surrogate court in NY asking to rule that the surviving spouse has a right to ⅓ of the estate value

After finally arriving at court the family continued to maintain their original position and they wanted to take the case to trial. But after dedicated negotiations, the case was settled for nearly the exact amount of the value of ⅓ of the estate. Without any risk of the expense of going to travel, which can be very costly.

Case 2: Need to know facts of case 2: Investment Property

  1. A spouse passed away leaving the surviving spouse everything except investment property.
  2. The surviving spouse was not sure if they were entitled to more
  3. Even though there was a will which declared the above facts, it was discovered that this was only 1.5 of the value of the estate with the exclusion of the investment property. And as we know there is a legal right of ⅓.
  4. The other beneficiary of the investment property was required to redistribute the remaining value to equal ⅓ of the total value to the surviving spouse.

Knowing your rights can be complicated especially when all the facts of the case are considered, but choosing a top rated estate law firm in NY can help you to make the process easier and less expensive.

Get a free consultation with the local estate planning experts at:

Roman Aminov Esq. Estate, Probate & Elder Law of Queens 147-17 Union Tpke, Queens, NY 11367 (347) 766-2685 https://www.aminovlaw.com/

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