Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Scenario: A young woman inherits an enormous fortune from her Father. A stipulation in the will states she must be married by age 30 and must remain married a minimum of 6 months in order to receive the entirety of the inheritance.
My question: Are there any circumstances under which this woman might be able to claim the inheritance before the 6 months have passed? Any possible legal loopholes?
3 Answers from Attorneys
In what state? CA or OK? If you're asking about OK, you need to ask OK lawyers.
Did the father pass away in California? Where was the will drafted and which state is named the governing state.
To determine the "any circumstances", the will would need to be reviewed. You say the girl must be married "a minimum 6 moths" to receive "the entirety of the inheritance". Are their fractional payments for getting married, 1 month, 2 months, etc.?
It probably would not be against public policy to require her to marry in order to obtain the inheritance. If it really is a very large sum of money, then her father probably used an attorney to draw up the terms and thus there may not be any loopholes.But none of us can answer, even if California is the state having jurisdiction over the estate, without seeing the terms of the Will and having more information. It sounds as though you are trying to get information for some work of fiction. If she is going to get so much, why is she worried about waiting 6 months. For a steep discount, she can probably borrow against the inheritance.