Also known as: marital property portion · marital-property portions · marital share
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A fraction of the augmented estate computed by multiplying the value of specified components by a percentage that increases with the length of the marriage. The fraction represents the share attributable to the marital partnership. A surviving spouse receives fifty percent of this fraction as the base elective-share amount.
Megan Moore dies domiciled in the state after twenty years of marriage to Maurice Marshall. The augmented estate totals four million dollars. Maurice elects against the will. The marital-property portion equals the full four million dollars because the marriage exceeded fifteen years. Maurice therefore receives an elective-share amount of two million dollars.
Monica Morgan dies after eight years of marriage to Marco Marquez. The augmented estate includes two hundred thousand dollars of Marco's own assets under section 2-207. The marital-property portion of those assets equals ninety-six thousand dollars. That amount is applied first to satisfy Marco's elective share before any other estate assets are reached.
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Malcolm McKinley dies after four years of marriage to Mustafa Mahmoud. The augmented estate includes three hundred thousand dollars of nonprobate transfers under section 2-207. The marital-property portion equals seventy-two thousand dollars because the schedule assigns twenty-four percent to a four-year marriage. Mustafa's fifty-percent share of that portion is then credited against his elective share.
The portion is obtained by multiplying the value of the relevant augmented-estate components by the percentage listed in the statutory schedule for the exact length of the marriage. The schedule begins at three percent for marriages under one year and rises in six-percent increments until it reaches one hundred percent at fifteen years.
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It includes the marital-property fraction of amounts brought into the augmented estate under section 2-207, which covers the surviving spouse's own property and nonprobate transfers to others. That fraction is then applied first to satisfy the elective share.
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The remaining unsatisfied balance is satisfied from the decedent's net probate estate and nonprobate transfers to others, with liability apportioned among the recipients in proportion to the value of their interests.
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…a “coverture factor” to determine the noncontributing spouse’s share of the pension. “This factor is applied once the initial marital share is determined and consists of the ratio of the number of years the parties have been married while the service person has been in the military to the total number of years of military…