If my husband is divorced from his wife but still has the old Will they had done years ago and something should happen to him, would the Will still be legal?
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If my husband is divorced from his wife but still has the old Will they had done years ago and something should happen to him, would the Will still be legal?
Asked on May 14, 2015 under Estate Planning, South Carolina
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 9 years ago | Contributor
The will is still valid. The real question is whether his ex-wife will inherit. That depends on how she is named in the will. If the will simply names her as "Jane Doe" and her name is still "Jane Doe" (e.g. she never changed her name), she'll inherit--she's still the person named in the will.
If the will names her as "my wife" or "my wife, Jane Doe," then she would most likely *not* inherit: the will makes clear that she was to inherit as his wife, but she is no longer his wife.
It would certainly be best, in any event, for him to do a new will to avoid any possibility of the "wrong" person inheriting.
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