Witt v. Young: A debate about the community property law and the property rights of a deceased partner in a committed, intimate relationship.
By Laura Morgan, Family Lawyer
Community property law applied by analogy when evaluating the property rights of a deceased partner of a committed, intimate relationship, citing Olver v. Fowler, 161 Wash.2d 655, 168 P.3d 348 (2007). Thus, cohabitee’s action against estate of other cohabitee, who died intestate, was not an action against the other cohabitee himself, and thus nonclaim statute’s prohibition on maintenance of a claim against a decedent without appointment of personal representative and following of procedural requirements was inapplicable to action, which alleged that portion of estate’s property was cohabitee’s property, despite argument that action was the equivalent of a creditor’s claim; claim was in effect a claim for partition of property rather than a generalized claim of indebtedness.
Laura Morgan is a Family Law Consultant. Laura is available for consultation, brief writing and research on family law issues throughout the country. She can be reached through her Web site.
A property transfer is “incident to divorce” if it: (i) occurs within one year of the cessation of the marriage; or (ii) is “related to the cessation of the marriage.” The latter is true of a transfer of property if it: (i) is made pursuant to a divorce or separation instrument; and (ii) occurs within six years of the date of divorce. § 1041 applies even if the transferred property is acquired by the transferor spouse after the divorce is final.
The property was an older farmhouse-type single-family dwelling with several outbuildings, including a barn and a garage. The improvements were situated on a total of two parcels, under single ownership, that offered a total of 28+ acres. The home was located within a Philadelphia suburban market that has grown exponentially over the past ten years.
As divorcing spouses recognize the suffering and sadness, worry and anxiety in each other due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we can begin to talk openly about fair and good resolutions of divorce cases. The combination of shared anxiety and astoundingly long wait times from Courts could allow COVID-19 to lead to more divorce settlements with less family suffering.
Diana Shepherd is the Editorial Director of Family Lawyer Magazine and Divorce Magazine. An award-winning editor, published author, and a nationally-recognized expert on divorce, remarriage, finance, and stepfamily issues, she is a frequent lecturer on the topics of divorce, finance, and marketing – both to local groups and national organizations. She has also been a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® since 2006.
