Spousal Disinheritance Made Easy by a Rhode Island Court Decision

Kenneth Rampino (J.D. Candidate May 2008, Roger Williams University School of Law) has recently published his comment entitled Spousal Disinheritance in Rhode Island: Barrett v. Barrett and the (De)evolution of the Elective Share Law, 12 Roger Williams U. L. Rev. 420 (2007).

Here is an excerpt from the introduction to his article:

Just months after the Anna Nicole Smith case was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court last year, a less scandalous version was litigated in Rhode Island. The case of Barrett v. Barrett did not involve a voluptuous celebrity, a billionaire oil mogul, or a crooked son, but it presented the familiar story of a younger woman marrying an older man and then, after his death, fighting with his children over the estate. At the heart of both cases is the question of what rights a surviving spouse should have to continued support in a society in which multiple marriages are increasingly common.

The Barrett decision drew little attention, yet it changed the law of this state in one dramatic way: it is now remarkably easy to disinherit a spouse. In fact, Rhode Island’s law has become one of the least protective of surviving spouses in the entire country. Should we be concerned that our state has dismantled the traditional protections afforded to surviving spouses while many states are doing the opposite? The significance of the change is best understood when looked at in the context of Rhode Island’s evolving elective share law.