How can a will be revoked in Kentucky?
Full Question:
My friend is getting divorced and is intending to revoke her will so that she can exclude her husband from her estate and property. How can a resident of Kentucky revoke her/his will?
03/16/2017 |
Category: Wills and Es... ยป Revocation |
State: Kentucky |
#34055
Answer:
A will can be revoked by the testator’s subsequent will.
A testator can revoke his will by some writing which declares his intention to revoke the will or codicil. He should execute this writing or new will in the manner in which a will is required to be executed.
A testator or some person in his presence and by his direction can revoke his will by cutting, tearing, burning, obliterating, canceling, or destroying the will or codicil, or any signature in it, with the intention of revoking.
A will cannot be revoked by the marriage of the testator.
If a person gets divorced, or if his marriage is annulled, then all the provisions that are related with the former spouse of the testator are revoked. If any provisions in the will are revoked because of a divorce or annulment, then such provisions are revived when the testator remarries his/her former spouse.
A will can be revived only by the re-execution in a manner in which a will is made. The testator should have an intention to re-execute and revive the will.
If a testator adopts children, or if any child is born to the testator after he has executed his will, and the will has no provision for such child, then such a child would be entitled to receive a share in a manner he would have received if the testator had died without a will, unless:
The language of the will shows that the testator intentionally exclude his child from his will
The testator had one or more kids at the time he executed his will and he has devised a major portion of his estate to such omitted child.
The testator has made a transfer outside the will in the name of such omitted child and the will makes it clear that such transfer is in lieu of a testamentary provision.
Please have a look at the Kentucky law on revocation of wills for more details:
KRS § 394.080
Revocation of will -- How effected.
No will or codicil, or any part thereof, shall be revoked, except:
(1) By subsequent will or codicil;
(2) By some writing declaring an intention to revoke the will or codicil, and executed in the manner in which a will is required to be executed; or
(3) By the person who made the will, or some person in his presence and by his direction, cutting, tearing, burning, obliterating, canceling, or destroying the will or codicil, or the signature thereto, with the intent to revoke.
KRS § 394.090 (2017)
Nonrevocation of will by marriage of testator.
A will shall not be revoked by the marriage of the person who made the will.
KRS § 394.092 (2017)
Effect of divorce or annulment of marriage of testator.
If after executing a will the testator is divorced or his marriage annulled, the divorce or annulment revokes any disposition or appointment of property made by the will to the former spouse, any provision conferring a general or special power of appointment on the former spouse, and any nomination of the former spouse as executor, trustee, conservator or guardian, unless the will expressly provides otherwise. Property prevented from passing to a former spouse because of revocation by divorce or annulment passes as if the former spouse failed to survive the decedent, and other provisions conferring some power or office on the former spouse are interpreted as if the spouse failed to survive the decedent. If provisions are revoked solely by this section, they are revived by the testator's remarriage to the former spouse.
KRS § 394.100 (2017)
Revoked will may be revived, how.
A will or codicil, or part thereof, that has been revoked shall be revived only by reexecution or by a codicil executed in the manner required for making a will, and then only to the extent to which an intention to revive is shown thereby.
KRS § 394.382 (2017)
Share of pretermitted child.
(1) If a testator fails to provide in his will for any of his children born or adopted after the execution of his will, the omitted child receives a share in the estate equal in value to that which he would have received if the testator had died intestate unless:
(a) It appears from the will that the omission was intentional;
(b) When the will was executed the testator had one (1) or more children and devised substantially all his estate to the other parent of the omitted child; or
(c) The testator provided for the child by transfers outside the will and the intent that the transfers be in lieu of a testamentary provision is shown by statements of the testator or from the amount of the transfers or other evidence.
(2) In satisfying a share provided for in this section, such share shall be taken ratably from the interest of heirs, devisees and legatees.