Can an ex inherit if the other ex doesn't make a new will?

I’m not asking for legal advice! :slight_smile:

With half of marriages ending in divorce, this has to have come up in court, but I don’t know how/where to look.

I’m curious about whether divorce by itself invalidates the wills these married couples have made, as far as their bequests to each other.

Every will I’ve typed says something like “I leave my entire estate to my wife/husband [name]. If he/she should predecease me, or if we die simultaneously, I bequeath my estate to --”, yadda yadda.

If there’s been a divorce, and one ex doesn’t make a new will, does the other ex have a claim, because they were named in the will as a spouse, even though they’re no longer a spouse?

IANAL, but I’m gonna’ say yes. I’m sure it could be contested, but it would be tough. I just recently redid my will, superceding my previous will that named my Ex as the beneficiary. I should have done it earlier since we were divorced in ‘99.
Same deal w/ insurance beneficiaries, you gotta’ stay on top of these things.

The question is whether there is “revocation by divorce”

I did a quick search and found this link, which is apparently the law in one state.

http://www.medlawplus.com/library/legal/states/westvirginia.tpl?page=lwt

I imagine you should check the law in your own state. This is not legal advice, blah blah

I think the answer is going to vary. And note that there are times, as in amicable divorces, when an ex-spouse may want to make a bequest to his/her ex-spouse, as for example easing the finances of the family unit that consists of ex and kids.

But in construing this sort of thing, please note that if John and Jane Doe divorce and John dies, with a provision in his estate leaving “the remainder of my estate both real and personal to my wife Jane Doe,” there is no such person as “my wife Jane Doe” – the person who might have been so described ceased to exist at the time of the divorce, and became “my ex-wife Jane Doe.” The probate court would then probably construe the circumstances of the bequest, the relationship of the formerly married couple, etc., to determine if John’s intent, so far as it can be reconstructed, was to continue to leave his estate to his ex (plausible if they remained friendly, she has custody of children, and he has no close relatives) or it was an oversight on his part not to change his will (more likely).

IANAL. TINLA. GFAL.

Thanks, everybody. Makes sense.

I wonder if fewer divorced people than newly-married people make wills. I can see delaying it, because it gets more complicated, especially if they remarry and blend families. I can also see someone doing it as soon as the ink is dry on the decree, so that there’s no chance for the ex to inherit.

Is GFAL “go find a lawyer”? What’s TINLA?

This Is Not Legal Advice, I think.

Auntie Pam: Yes, it is, and KneadToKnow is right on the other. :slight_smile:

And on that note, why is it so flippin’ hard to find a website that’ll tell you how to write your own, simple will?

For heaven’s sake, all I want is to do is write a new will with a new beneficiary. Can’t I just write one myself? I imagine so, but I sure can’t find a site that’ll tell me how. grumble

IANAL, but I believe that there are some U.S. states and possible other jurisdictions, where holistic will’s are not recgnized. I just had mine redone, fairly simple, and along w/ a living will and a power of atty. it cost me $115.00. It’s also too easy to make some simple error that might invalidate your will or make it vulnerable to a challenge, so why do it yourself? It’s not as if you can come back and fix it if there’s a problem.

In Texas, they started to bring procedings against the dudes who wrote the Nolo Press books. Friom Wiki
"In 1997 the Texas Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee (a committee of the Texas Supreme Court) opened investigations on Nolo and similar publishers, inquiring as to whether their publications constituted the practicing law without a licence. Saying the investigation was “the first step toward widespread state censorship” [5], Nolo sued, seeking a declaratory judgement that its publications were legal; it was joined in the action by the American Association of Law Libraries and the Texas Library Association. In response, the Texas Legislature enacted HR 1507, which expressly exempted websites and textbooks from accusations of practicing law without a license, providing they “clearly and conspicuously state that the products are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.”[6]. In the light of this, the court committee dropped its contest of Nolo’s suit. [7]

So, any such webpage could find itself in hot water for “Practicing Law without a license” in several/many states.

It gets messy. It varies from state to state. Wills, as such, aren’t the only problem. Life insurance, for instance: http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/Communications_Office/summaries/2007/0103/052281.asp

For wills:

http://www.aals.org/profdev/family/gary2.html

The same cite discusses the law on other non-probate transfers.

Here’s an example from the same page:

That’s *holographic * wills: Holographic will - Wikipedia

Sorry, my tongue got in front of my eye tooth and I couldn’t see what I was saying. Thanks for the correction. :wink:

I actually Googled your version before I realized why I got nothing useful back. :o

A holistic will, of course, is one that acknowledges the sound mind and body of the whole man taken as a single entity! :smiley:

In point of fact, simply because the testator who made the will is (obviously) not around to ask about his intent, each state has complex and detailed requirements intended to ensure that the will as written and read does what the testator intended it to do, that nobody has trammelled with it, and that anyone with a just claim on the estate can get what they are entitled to. This would mean both creditors and close family who might have a just claim, such as a spouse or minor children.

“Simple wills” generally aren’t.