Claim to community property

Hi again.

First of - I am not a lawyer, what follows is opinion only.

In general, the fact that they weren't married at the time of his death and a separate court had already passed judgement when granting the divorce decree, she will have no further claim on his estate and the house remains as part of the company assets.

Assuming your brother made his wishes known in a Last Will & Testament, then they would have been respected by the Executor at the time as long as they were legal.  If the company is still trading, then I suggest you contact the Company Secretary (you can find out who that is via Companies House) and see what, if anything, he/she knows; it could well be that they have already disposed of the asset or perhaps a 3rd party has an interest if the company has financial commitments made since this all happened.

If you're considering going legal to contest the claims of your brother's ex-wife, then there was obviously actions taken by both parties to hide assets from the court that originally granted the divorce.  No subsequent judge is going to ignore this, so you need to speak to a lawyer who is experienced in International Law to find out where you all stand in this matter.  It could be that the Romanian government have some interest in the property if there are unpaid dues outstanding.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Thank you Cynic.

Unfortunately there was no will found.

We are looking into liquidating the company which means disposing of office and computer equipment only. There is no bank account.

The ex wife has checked and downloaded from the UK government probate site the final document  which contains the het book value for the previous year when my brother was alive, she therefore believes that is the current worth of the company and is making demands for all or at least a share of this.

As mentioned previously there is an email from her to my brother demanding assets including her Romanian assets be left out of the divorce agreement.

Having researched online today, it appears that gifts can be left out of the divorce agreement but excessive gifts, I would put a house in this category, should have been included with an exclusion clause in the divorce agreement.  I'm hoping this is correct.

Hi again.

In many ways, the fact he died without a will makes it easier; it's known as dying "intestate" and a court will decide who gets what; there will be no negotiation.  In general, when dealing with anything legal, there will be records of any agreements and these will be part of the divorce settlement.

You need to find a solicitor who is a probate specialist; he/she will be able to help you further.

Remember that anything you say to a solicitor is covered by privilege laws, so although they are officers of the court, anything you say to them is confidential; so be honest and tell them the truth.

Cynic
Expat Team