Friend died, exwife taking everything from new partner need advice

Barneysmom

Hi, I hope I'm posting in the right place.

One of my friends died suddenly a few days ago.

He and his girlfriend have been together for ten years.

He split up from his wife long before then but they never divorced.

The ex-wife is now saying that his girlfriend is not allowed to see his body or go to the funeral.
The ex-wife is also taking everything from the flat, inclduding little things like the telephone.

Has his girlfriend got any rights in all of this - she's hysterical, and desperate to say goodbye to him.
They were due to buy a new house next week, this all seems so unreal..

ceb1995

did he have a will?

Barneysmom

No, no will..

Nick_C

If they never divorced then the lady is his wife, not his ex wife. She is his next of kin. In the absence of a will, intestacy rules apply.

However, if your friend and his girlfriend were cohabiting, then some property in the flat might be the girlfriends and of course she must not take this.

Was the flat owned or rented? Who's name was the flat in? Was the girlfriend living there?

Barneysmom

Thank you.
They were legally separated but not divorced, the flat's rented but all the furniture etc would have been bought by both of them, certainly no contribution from his ex-wife.
A lesson to all then - get married or lose a lot.

I think her biggest fear is not being allowed to the funeral but I always thought that funerals were for anyone who wants to pay their respects.

Pollycat

Barneysmom wrote: »

Thank you.
They were legally separated but not divorced, the flat's rented but all the furniture etc would have been bought by both of them, certainly no contribution from his ex-wife.
A lesson to all then - get married or lose a lot.

I think her biggest fear is not being allowed to the funeral but I always thought that funerals were for anyone who wants to pay their respects.

No.
The lesson is - make a will.

z1a

Nobody can stop her attending the funeral. As regards household items, she may have a fight on her hands.

HampshireH

Barneysmom

Thank you.!
They were legally separated but not divorced, the flat's rented but all the furniture etc would have been bought by both of them, certainly no contribution from his ex-wife.!
A lesson to all then - get married or lose a lot.

Not entirely the case. Other option would be to make a will.

The ex wife seems to be completely lacking in morals.

As difficult as it will be the girlfriend could go through bank statements to evidence large purchases to avoid them being stolen by the wife.

Marvel1

Anyone can g o the funeral, the wife cannot stop her, also I assume most who knew him to attend would also know her.

Pollycat wrote: »

No.
The lesson is - make a will.

And get divorced, stop putting it off

POPPYOSCAR

I cannot understand why someone would not get a divorce after 10 years of living with someone else.

Especially as the wife sounds like a real piece of work.

Madness.

74jax

Barneysmom wrote: »

Hi, I hope I'm posting in the right place.

One of my friends died suddenly a few days ago.

He and his girlfriend have been together for ten years.

He split up from his wife long before then but they never divorced.

The ex-wife is now saying that his girlfriend is not allowed to see his body or go to the funeral.
The ex-wife is also taking everything from the flat, inclduding little things like the telephone.

Has his girlfriend got any rights in all of this - she's hysterical, and desperate to say goodbye to him.
They were due to buy a new house next week, this all seems so unreal..

Had divorce proceedings started? It seems strange you would leave it this long.

I'm guessing him and the new girlfriend didn't rent together and it was just in his name? Did she live there? If so how did the wife get a key, does the land lord know?

Who is the next of kin? Did he appoint his girlfriend. The wife and he may have been friends and he was happy to remain with her as nok?

I would have thought if they were legally seperated the advice he got at the time would be to make a will and designate a nok. I'd double check he didn't do this. If he didn't it's clear he was happy with intestate rules unfortunately.