Man Dies One Month After Divorce Without Amending Palm Beach Will: What Can the Court Do? July 1, 2015

Palm Beach probate litigators know that divorce happens.  Do you know what to do with your will after you get a divorce? The answer is pretty simple – time to amend. But did you know that the divorce actually invalidates parts of your will? Check out this case out of the Fourth District Court of Appeals.

Divorce

• Divorce alters your West Palm Beach will, do you know how.
• Experienced Palm Beach probate litigators know that many people do not think about their wills in the midst of a divorce.
• That does not mean the Florida legislature does not have your back!
• You may want to start out by reading Fla. Stat 732.507(2) for more information.
• Basically all wills usually have something called a residuary clause.
• This is just the leftovers, from the estate.
• Any gift that is given to your ex-wife under your pre-divorce will is automatically invalidated by operation of law.
• All those gifts then go straight to your residue.
• Is that how you want the gifts to be allocated?
• Palm Beach probate litigators know that often times a residuary clause is not given to the person that a testator wants to receive the goods he promised to his wife.
• If you want to make sure that your will is read as it is intended you may need to revise it from time to time.
• One of these times is following a West Palm Beach divorce.
• So what happens when you fail to revise?
• Check out this case out of the Fourth District Court of Appeal.

Carol v. Israelson

• A childless decedent passed away just one month after divorcing his wife.
• He never got around to changing his will.
• For some reason the trial court ignored the rule stated above and created several revocable trusts to benefit parties under the will.
• Does that make any sense?
• The appeals court certainly did not think so.
• On appeal the Fourth District Court of Appeals followed the rule from statute and undid the formation of those trusts.

Want to learn more?

Check out the entire case by clicking here.