If your former spouse died and owed you alimony or child support at the time of his or her death, you can sue the estate to attempt to recover what you were owed. Normally alimony ends upon the death of either spouse, so you aren’t entitled to any additional alimony going forward. You can sue the estate to attempt to recover what you were owed.
However, just because you are able to sue the estate does not mean that you will recover anything. Life insurance normally passes outside of probate. Therefore, the proceeds will pass to whomever your spouse named as his or her beneficiary of the policy, and that money is not part of the estate. In the event that your former spouse either failed to name a beneficiary, or named his or her estate as the beneficiary, you can make a claim on those life insurance proceeds.
There may also be other assets against which you can make a claim. If your former spouse held real estate, bank accounts, vehicles, or other assets you may be able to claim those. It’s important that once you learn of your former spouse’s death, that you file a claim with the estate so that if there are any assets, you can receive a portion of them.
If you are divorcing, you may wish to plan in advance for what will happen if your former spouse were to pass away. Although that may seem unlikely, depending on the circumstances, sometimes unexpected deaths happen. You may wish to ask that the spouse pay for a life insurance policy payable to you in the event of a death.