The Moneyist: ‘We went through all of my 401(k) investments’: I lost my job, then my home. Do I have any claim to my wife’s $200,000 inheritance?

by | Dec 8, 2023 | Stock Market

Dear Quentin, My wife and I have been married for over 30 years. Throughout the years, we relied mainly on my income. My wife worked occasionally, but mainly raised the children. We started to struggle financially when I was laid off. We went through all of my 401(k) investments.

I lost my home through a short sale because of the difficulty of keeping up with the expenses. I asked my wife to help by getting a job, but that did not happen. Now we are finally at a comfortable place, renting a home, and my wife is finally working.  My question: Do I have the legal right to an equal share of her $200,000 inheritance when she gets it, given I used all of my retirement funds to get us through those hard years? Divorcing in Ohio Related: My husband added my mother-in-law to the deed of our house 20 years ago. Now we’re getting divorced, and she wants one-third. Can I fight this?

“It’s a tough break that after 30 years of marriage and several years of homeownership, you are bidding adieu to the former and had to let go of the latter.”

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Dear Divorcing, You have experienced a lot of financial loss, and you are about to go through what I hope is the last of it. It’s a tough break that after 30 years of marriage and several years of homeownership, you are bidding adieu to the former and had to let go of the latter. Given how difficult it is to get on the property ladder, you would have been better off living in a studio rental with your wife and renting out your house rather than letting it go. But we all do the best we can with the resources we have at the time, and you have finally reached a place of stability. The short and long answer to your question: Ohio is an equitable-distribution state, meaning that marital assets are divided fairly, if not equally. Inheritance is regarded as separate property in Ohio, unless it is in some way used …

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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnDear Quentin, My wife and I have been married for over 30 years. Throughout the years, we relied mainly on my income. My wife worked occasionally, but mainly raised the children. We started to struggle financially when I was laid off. We went through all of my 401(k) investments.

I lost my home through a short sale because of the difficulty of keeping up with the expenses. I asked my wife to help by getting a job, but that did not happen. Now we are finally at a comfortable place, renting a home, and my wife is finally working.  My question: Do I have the legal right to an equal share of her $200,000 inheritance when she gets it, given I used all of my retirement funds to get us through those hard years? Divorcing in Ohio Related: My husband added my mother-in-law to the deed of our house 20 years ago. Now we’re getting divorced, and she wants one-third. Can I fight this?

“It’s a tough break that after 30 years of marriage and several years of homeownership, you are bidding adieu to the former and had to let go of the latter.”

MarketWatch illustration

Dear Divorcing, You have experienced a lot of financial loss, and you are about to go through what I hope is the last of it. It’s a tough break that after 30 years of marriage and several years of homeownership, you are bidding adieu to the former and had to let go of the latter. Given how difficult it is to get on the property ladder, you would have been better off living in a studio rental with your wife and renting out your house rather than letting it go. But we all do the best we can with the resources we have at the time, and you have finally reached a place of stability. The short and long answer to your question: Ohio is an equitable-distribution state, meaning that marital assets are divided fairly, if not equally. Inheritance is regarded as separate property in Ohio, unless it is in some way used …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]

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