Can anyone advise on this situation?

A couple kept the majority of their finances in one account. That account belongs to the husband, with the wife able to withdraw up to a certain limit from the account but she is not an owner. (Not sure how that works, but that is how she described the situation to me.)

The husband became incapacitated and unable to handle financial matters. The wife took over day to day financial management but did not have POA .

She was able to keep the household going for a while because bills fell below her withdrawl limit. However, when she was forced (which is a whole 'nutha story) to bring her husband to an Altersheim, those bills were well beyond her spending limit.

While she was trying to work out how to access the family accounts in order to pay her husband's Altersheim bills - which took a very long time - her only option was to liquidate her few personal assets, including selling her property in her home country, so that her husband's Altersheim and medical bills could be paid on time.

So my question:

When the sad day comes that she is widowed, the estate will be split between the wife and other relatives. In determining the value of the estate prior to division, can she deduct/claim/whatever from the estate for the money she spent from her personal assets used to pay her husband's Altersheim bills? Or is she out of luck?

Any insights would be appreciated.

Yes, she needs to keep records, and she will be paid back before the estate is divided.

I did this for some bills related to emptying my MIL's house (12k or so as I recall, plus a few more). I got my money, as did other creditors, then the estate was divided.

Tom

In a similar situation I sent the bills to my MIL account and the bank paid them although I had no signing rights.

That’s what I would have done in the first instance and only resorted to other means if that didn’t work.

All is not lost though as she will be able to claim it back from the estate before it is distributed to the heirs, it just means that she has lost her own funds in the interim.

And any appreciation those assets might have garnered in the interim. Not sure how she'd get her value back there. Unless she sold a property where she could demonstrate lost valuation.

It might make sense to go to court and claim separation of assets. This can be an option to protect her share of the shared assets. The impact of this and if it make sense should be discussed with an lawyer.

ANd as Tom has said, keep track of all the expenses, which she can claim against the husbands estate.

Also note that funeral and other costs and outstanding bills are paid by the estate before the rest is divvied up.

Tom