Happy Ever After: The Anniston French Case
Happy ever after? Well, maybe not. What may have been a storytale involving a G.I. reuniting with a sweetheart from a post-World War II NATO assignment ended with an arrest, detention and deportation back to the land where love was born.
For Marie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé, an ordinary Wednesday turned into one of her last days in the State of Alabama.
“She was still in her bathrobe, pajamas and slippers when she said ICE agents banged on the doors and windows until she opened the door, pushed inside and handcuffed her, placed her in an unmarked car and drove her to a jail cell,” according to Hannah Denham of al.com
Legal issue # 1
You do not have to open the door if ICE is banging on the door or your windows. They must have a warrant to enter the home. If they do not have a warrant, they cannot legally enter the home unless you give them consent to enter. Here, we do not know for sure if they had a warrant or not, but by Mrs. Ross-Mahe opening the door, they will likely argue that they were given consent. If you do not want ICE in your home, do not open the door, video the engagement with ICE and force them to show you a “valid” warrant.
Keep in mind, Mrs. Ross-Mahe is 85 years old.
Timeline (from the New York Times):
Mr. Ross and Marie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé date in the 1950s in Nantes, France while they both worked on a NATO base.
Mr. Ross and Marie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé married different people, but stayed in touch over the decades
Mr. Ross’s wife died in 2018
Marie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé husband died in 2022
Four months after Mrs. Ross Mahe’s husband, Bernard, died, Mr. Ross “sent her a ticket to visit him in Alabama.”
For two years, they courted
In April 2025, they were married in Alabama
Mr. Ross, a veteran, died in January 2026, leaving an estate with an approximately $173,000 house, two vehicles, and about $1,500 in a bank account.
At the time ICE came to her door, on April 1, 2026,, Mrs. Ross-Mahe was involved in an estate dispute involving the two sons of her late husband concerning Mr. Ross’s estate. A hearing was set for April 9, 2026, but Mrs. Ross-Mahe was taken by ICE on April 1st. Nevertheless, the probate judge, the Honorable Shirley Millwood, “appointed an independent administrator for Mr. Ross’s estate and temporarily ordered his sons to give up their keys to their father’s home” according to Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Catherine Porter of the New York Times. Under Alabama law, when there is no Will, a spouse, such as Mrs. Ross-Mahe is entitled to the first $50,000 of the Estate and would split the remainder half with his children. Even if she was not in the United States and is a non-resident spouse, she will be entitled to this distribution.
The question is or becomes, why was Mrs. Ross-Mahe a target of ICE during this proceeding? What is more disturbing is what was the ultimate goal of removing Mrs. Ross-Mahe from the Anniston home, since she (and therefore, her sons back in France) remained the heir at law as described above, since she was alive at the time Mr. Ross passed away.
Legal issue # 2
A Will keeps an issue, such as this, from being interpreted by Statute in Alabama. If there was a Will, it would govern, unless there was some issue of incompetency or some other issue with the language of the Will. Otherwise, the Will would govern the distribution of assets. Without a Will, however, in Alabama, a Statute of Intestancy governs. In this case, since there is a spouse, Ala. Code Sec. 42 would be the Statute at issue. That Statute is there to protect, in my opinion, those most immediately vulnerable by the death. In this case, it would be the spouse, who in this case did not have a U.S. phone or vehicle or access to her medications, without her husband.
Legal issue #3
Do your best to prepare for the worst. In this case, the death of your spouse. This goes for either spouse. If one dies, what is the plan for the other? In this example, it would have been helpful to move the title of the vehicles into Mrs. Ross-Mahe name. Therefore, they would not be an Estate asset in this example, as they would be in her name at the time Mr. Ross passed away. Generally, people do not think about vehicles and checking accounts, but if you do not want to designate these in a Will, you may want to consider putting your spouse’s name on them. Then, even without a Will, they would go to your spouse, without the need of the asset going through the probate court.
Keep in mind that you and your spouse or your loved one has the power to decide where assets go. They can do this through a Will or by placing names on assets to go to the other individual through the principle of survivorship. If, however, these plans are not made and action steps not taken, then the Courts will decide based upon available Statutes for distribution. It is ultimately your choice, and you by not deciding you are deciding to let Alabama Statutes decide for you.
If you would like to make a plan or have us evaluate your Estate and what you should do, please contact us here. We can provide economical options to get assets to the people you want to have them. You can write your own fairytale, or alternatively, the State and Federal Government will write one for you.
