Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey
very confused
My father died from cancer. He was living with my mother at the time of his death, but they were divorced for 5 years up until two days before he died they supposedly got remarried. His will was dated two months before he died. The will states he left everything to his wife, meaning my mother, if something happened to her I would receive everything. If they weren't marrried at the time the will was written is the will valid?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: very confused
Unless the Will specifically stated otherwise, whether or not they were married has no affect on the validity of the will.
Re: very confused
This is a close call. If they were not remarried, the Will may be invalid, or it could relate back to the settlement agreement made when the divorce took place. Usually a divorce extinguishes rights and would make the Will invalid. However, here the Will was made after the divorce, so it negates the original operation of law, which presumes an old Will was not updated to reflect the new marital/non-marital situation. However, an argument could be made that due to his medical/physical condition he was not of "sound" mind and suffering from a condition from which he died (possibly heavily medicated) and unaware of the prior divorce. This would probably be a situation where litigation might be required, to determine the validity of the Will. Medical testimony might be required and it could get costly. I suggest filing a caveat to the probate of the Will and try to negotiate a settlement before legal fees eat the entire estate. Try contacting his physicians and determine his mental and physical condition at the time the Will was prepared, as well as the degree of his medications. This may help in a settlement.
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