Provisions for Ex-Spouse in Contractual Will Revoked by Statute

In In re Estate of Pence, 327 S.W.3d 570 (Mo. App. 2010), husband and wife executed a joint contractual will that divided the estate between their daughters by previous marriages on the death of the second to die. After thirty years of marriage, the couple divorced and ex-husband died a year later.

The ex-wife sought to probate the will, her former step-daughter objected, and the court granted letters to the daughter, holding that the Missouri revocation on divorce statute applied and the ex-wife must be treated as having predeceased her ex-husband. The intermediate appellate court affirmed, holding that the contract not to revoke could not prevail over statutory revocation in the absence of a provision in the contract dealing with divorce.

Special thanks to William P. LaPiana (Rita and Joseph Solomon Professor of Wills, Trusts,and Estates, New York Law School) for bringing this to my attention.