Great thinking there Tucker, he as father would be first in line to manage the trusts funds of his children.
About the law, if John drops dead of a hart attack in the next 10 years, will his new wife be in charge of her stepchildrens trust fund??
Were they ever legally divorced.?
What happens if this new wife to come wants to divorce him, will she in a round about way get money that both John and first wife made together.??
If Elizabeth was smart...and by all accounts she was...she appointed someone in her will to manage the kids money. I hope it was not the oldest daughter, though, as that could possibly put a lot of unnecessary pressure on her, from her father.
As far as I know, the divorce was not final, which means all of the "joint" stuff - house, bank accounts, anything that had not yet been legally split - key word LEGALLY split and documented by the court - now belongs to John.
Elizabeth probably had retirements, investments, bank accounts in her own name, and life insurance. Those are the things that would have been left to the children.
Unless NC has changed it's divorce laws...if/when John remarries...for some period of time, what he brings to the marriage, remains his until a certain amount of time passes..so Rielle would not get any of it, until that time passes. Here in TN, it's 10 yrs. However, should John croak, and they are married...that's a different story.
In TN, the primary home of a married couple, belongs to both of them regardless of who's name is on the deed. Neither the husband nor the wife, can sell the primary home without the other's signature. Both must attend the closing of the property, or there must be a notorzied document giving the other power of attorney to sign the closing documents of the one who does not attend. Also, if a couple is divorced, if the house is sold after the divorce, but both names were on the deed, both must attend the closing. I'm pretty sure that it's the same in NC, which means that if John croaks, that huge house would then belong to Rielle, unless he states in his will that the house goes to his children by Elizabeth only. If he leaves it to all of his children, then theoretically Rielle could live there with her baby and the other children.
I wonder if the two younger children will live with John and Rielle. I would think it would be very difficult for them, but they are minors, and he is their father, so he would have the legal right to determine where they live...whether they want to or not.
