Who will get my boyfriends property if he dies? Me or his wife?
Q. My boyfriend and I have lived together for 13 years but he is still officially married to another woman. He has a life insurance policy and Im the beneficiary, and Im also the beneficiary of his 401(k).  Concerned  A. The answer to both of your questions is yes. Even though you are the named beneficiary of the life insurance and the 401(k), theres more you need to think about. Without a will, probate assets  which are assets held by individuals in their own name without a beneficiary designation or assets held in joint names as tenants in common  pass by the laws of intestacy, said Catherine Romania, an estate planning attorney with Witman Stadtmauer in Florham Park. The laws of intestacy provide first to a spouse and/or children of the decedent without regard to whether the couple are living together, she said. In the absence of a spouse or children, intestacy laws provide that property passes to parents then siblings, she said. With respect to the life insurance and 401(k), it is possible that a spouse may have a contractual claim on such assets either through a premarital agreement or a property settlement agreement, Romania said. So, even if the assets are paid out to you, the contractual claim may provide the spouse with a successful action against you. In addition, some companies require retirement benefits to be paid to an employees spouse and, if paid to an individual other than the employees spouse, require the spouse to waive rights to the 401(k) before allowing a change of beneficiary, therefore, a beneficiary designation naming a non-spousal beneficiary without spousal waiver may not even be valid, Romania said. Finally, the spouse may have rights to the policy or part of the 401(k) as a result of the marriage in a future divorce proceeding.  Email your questions to Ask@NJMoneyHelp.com. Karin Price Mueller writes the Bamboozled column for NJ Advance Media and is the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Follow NJMoneyHelp on Twitter @NJMoneyHelp. Find NJMoneyHelp on Facebook. Sign up for NJMoneyHelp.coms weekly e-newsletter.