Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Revocable Trust and Divorce
If a man has a revocable trust in his name and his wife is the sole beneficiary she is entitled to the estate. But if the wife decides to divorce the man but still continues to care for him during an illness and if he dies does she still inherit the trust or not.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Revocable Trust and Divorce
As long as the beneficiary of the trust at the death of the husband is the wife, then she receives whatever benefits are provided for her in the trust. A trust is a contract and not part of a probate estate. So it is looking at a trust the wrong way to think in terms of someone "inheriting" the trust. That is not what happens. The trust estate simply goes to whomever is described as the beneficiary. By the way, this same rule applies to other contracts such as life insurance, IRAs, pensions, etc.
Re: Revocable Trust and Divorce
The beneficiary (the person "inheriting" in your original posting can be changed by the person who created the trust (mainly due to the fact that it is a REVOCABLE trust and can be changed at any time). Changing it should take care of the problem.
If it is not changed, however, it will continue to name the specific beneficiary in the trust documents.
Re: Revocable Trust and Divorce
If the divorce happens after the trust is made, the law may revoke the wife's inheritance, unless the trust provides otherwise. However, if the two remain married, even though a divorce action is pending, the wife will still inherit.
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