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Divorce and intestacy
According to the opinion in a recent court case, Larry Caudle began dating Walker Crocker in 1962. They were "good friends" for many years. In 1973 Larry executed his will, providing a series contingent dispositions, as follows:
1st, to a surviving wife, if any (though he was not married at the time);
2nd, if there is no surviving wife, to any surviving children in equal shares (though he was then childless);
3rd, if there is no surviving wife, children or issue of children, to Larry's parents; and
4th if none of the above survive, to Walker Crocker.
There was no residuary clause to take effect if all of those mentioned in the will died before Larry.
Larry and Walker married in 1975. Their marriage lasted 20 years, until 1995, when the couple separated. They divorced in 1997, and in the property settlement they agreed to make no further claims upon each other.
In 2003 Larry died. In all that time, he never changed his will. Larry never remarried; he never had children; and his parents died before he did. Of all the potential beneficiaries mentioned in his 30 year old will, only Walker survived him. But Larry did have other relatives.
When Larry's will was presented to the probate court, Walker asked that she be declared his sole heir, and the court granted her wish. His collateral relatives objected, however, and the North Carolina Court of Appeals has sided with them.
North Carolina law provides, as many state laws do, that the dissolution of a marriage by divorce or annulment revokes all provisions in favor of a former spouse, unless otherwise specifically provided in the will. What that means is that if a will provision says "to so-and-so even if we are divorced at my death, "it will be respected, but anything short that is insufficient. The Court declared that Larry's will provision for Walker was revoked by operation of law. As a result, he died intestate, that is, without a will, and the laws governing intestacy in North Carolina will control the distribution of his estate. The collateral relatives will get something.
Larry's failure to amend his will when he married is perhaps understandable, given that a surviving spouse stood first in line among his beneficiaries. However, his "all to spouse" approach was not a very tax-effective strategy in 1975 - the unlimited martial deduction would not be allowed for another six years.
Failure to take care of estate planning matters after a divorce is harder to forgive, though it is a common problem. Given his nearly lifelong association with Walker, it is quite possible that Larry wanted her to inherit his entire estate. He could have achieved that simply by executing a new will after the divorce.
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