Divorced? Time to Check Your Will!

Minnesota Courts have recently enunciated serious changes to the way they interpret the state’s complicated estate planning laws. As a result, there is no better time to review your will with one of our trusted estate-planning attorneys.

For over two decades, Minnesota Courts have held that the facts and circumstances surrounding a divorce defeat any language in an existing will devising a portion of one spouse’s property to the legal heirs of their ex. More recently, however, the Court of Appeals reached the opposite conclusion in In the Matter of the Estate of: Matthew Joseph Tomczik, Deceased –  holding that a divorce from one’s spouse does not necessarily cut ties from their family.

This case involved a couple who divorced in 2019. The husband’s will, drafted in 1995, instructed that his estate be split equally between he and his wife’s legal heirs at the time of the surviving spouse’s death. He passed away in 2021 with no legal heirs. Even though Minnesota Law instructs courts to interpret the revocation of a marriage as if the former spouse died immediately before the annulment, it remains silent on what to do where the will refers to the legal heirs of that former spouse. Surprisingly, the Court of Appeals resolved this ambiguity by going against the likely intent of the husband’s will and devising the entirety of his estate to the sole legal heirs of his ex-wife – her parents.

Does your will continue to reflect your estate planning goals? Our estate planning attorneys at Bernick Lifson P.A., Sally Forbes-Friedman and Richard Bunin, have an understanding of these new developments and are eager to help you tailor your will to your individual circumstances.

Call us at: 763-546-1200  or email:   Sally Forbes Friedman  or Richard Bunin