What holds greater authority: a premartial agreement or a Will?

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What holds greater authority: a premartial agreement or a Will?

My father passed away. In his premartial agreement with my stepmother, it was explained that each would carry a certain amount of life insurance and in the event of death would use the proceeds to buy out that person’s half of the house. In the will however, my father had a special bequest that he is giving a life estate to his wife in respect to the home. Is she obligated to use the life insurance funds to buyout my fathers’ heirs? How does a life estate work in this situation since theoretically if she stays in the house until death half would still be hers?

Asked on March 10, 2012 under Estate Planning, Colorado

Answers:

Steven Fromm / Steven J Fromm & Associates, P.C.

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

The only way to determine the correct answer is a review of both documents and to check the operative rules under the state in question. No forum can provide you with a definitive answer here; you need to present this problem to an estates attorney.


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