Contracts Relating To Wills

Question 1

Contracts relating to wills are legal in all states, HOWEVER, they must be:

Answer 1

a) Signed voluntarily
b) Included or incorporated by reference in the will
c) The contract itself must expressly reference the will

Question 2

UPC section on contract & wills?

Answer 2

2-514

Question 3

Majority view

Answer 3

a) Contract beneficiaries will always trump any subsequent spouses,

Example:
(a) Testator promises not to revoke a will, and the first wife dies. The will leaves everything to testator’s children from the first marriage. If testator remarries, the second spouse gets nothing because the children (beneficiaries to the contract not to revoke the first will) will trump the second wife

Question 4

Minority view

Answer 4

a) Subsequent spouses will win

b) Any subsequent children will get their intestate share unless they have been specifically disinherited