Statute revoking provisions of a will in favor of an ex-spouse upon the testator’s divorce did not violate a ban on retroactive laws

The testator executed a will leaving his estate to his spouse.  They divorced less than one year later and sixteen years thereafter, New Hampshire enacted its version of UPC § 2-508 which revokes testamentary provisions for a spouse on divorce.

The testator died seven years after the statute’s enactment and the ex-spouse petitioned for administration, alleging that the statute as applied to the testator’s will violated the state constitutional prohibition against retroactive laws.

In Estate of Sharek, 930 A.2d 388 (N.H. 2007), the court held that the statute was constitutional and that the ex-spouse had no vested right in the testator’s will.