Have you ever heard of mutual wills? These are very common among married individuals in West Palm Beach but they raise an interesting issue. What happens when someone breaches the contract and does not keep their mutual will after the other one dies? What type of probate lawsuit is available? To learn more check out this recent case out of the Supreme Court of Indiana.
Mutual Wills
- A mutual will is a deal between two parties to keep their wills in line.
- This could be for a variety of reasons.
- One common example is that their are step and half children that are entitled to both estates.
- In other words both parents agree that the estate will be split among all of their children, and so they draft identical wills.
- These wills leave everything to the other spouse unless they predecease then leave the rest to the kids split in some fashion.
- What happens if one parent goes ahead and after the other dies disinherits that spouse’s kids?
- Now what recourse do they have in the West Palm Beach probate court?
- This you see is the question with regard to mutual wills.
- To learn your rights check out this case out of the Supreme Court of Indiana.
Markey v. Estate of Markey
- In this action the stepson brought a probate lawsuit against his stepmother’s estate to enforce the terms of a contract between his father (deceased) and his stepmother that required the parties to make mutual wills.
- The Court held that this was not actually a probate lawsuit and could not be brought through the estate administration as a will contest or probate lawsuit.
- So what recourse does he have?
- Really your only option in a case like this is a breach of contract lawsuit.
- The Court may order the inheritance held in a constructive trust for you which is essentially a process that ensures it will get to you.
- Hopefully though this case highlights the flaws with mutual wills.
- What can you do to better perfect this situation?
- Have you considered creating trusts as a more formal mechanism?
Want to learn more about mutual wills?
Check out the entire case by clicking here.
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