how can i make sure my wife doesn't get ANYTHING in my will?

Question

i am 59, having various heart problems and doctors are worried for me. so if something does happen i don't want my wife to get one thing! she's 47, a biggish age gap.

i know she's been cheating on me, i know it! even if she's not (which i doubt) she's never been a very good wife i we just stayed together for the sake of it. she's not a nice person i tell you...

how do i go about doing this? if i don't leave her anyhting there's still way's she can get things....right?

i mean....i hope i don't die but hwo knows! she would not divorce me....no chance, it would take a while, no time!

Answer 1

Your best bet is to talk to a lawyer, I think she will end up getting something because you are married and even if you get divorced unless you have a prenuptual agreement she will get some things as well. A lawyer can at least help you to make sure she gets as little as possible. If shes cheating and you can prove it you may be able to divorce her and she may get nothing or next to nothing because of it. Like I said though, a lawyer will know best. Good luck to you.

Answer 2

This is what I think you do, you tell your wife that you think it's important for her to be with the children more too, but that expecting anyone else to simply take over for free is a ridiculous assumption. Why not offer a compromise? She can work part-time, and alternate between a couple days of daycare and perhaps a day or two with your mother, and offer to compensate your mother in some way. Now, why do you think you chose someone like your wife, saying she has a different outlook on life than you do? Why did you pick her to be your wife and mother of your children if you had such different ways of viewing life? Just because she wants to be home with the kids more doesn't mean she wants stuff handed to her, it actually means that she sees the value in being a MOTHER vs. just a wage earner. One other thing to consider, if you do leave her, she can and probably will eventually find another man, a man who might also have kids, and then you will have NO control over who your kids are around, influenced by, having to learn to live with, share their Mom with etc....

Answer 3

First, unless you have a prenuptual agreement, don't get a divorce. She will mostly likely get 50% of what you have.

Talk to a lawyer (I know people cringe at the word) and have him help you draw up a new will. You may want to have another family member or close friend present as a witness so that the legality cannot be changed. A good personal lawyer should be able to get it drawn up and help you work through all the legal whatnots.

She may still end up getting something, though, especially if she invested anything in your home/car/etc. But you can make sure she doesn't get specific items.

Answer 4

If you are in a community property state, she can probably contest the will successfully and get half - an example is Anna Nicole Smith.

You can either divorce her now, or set up an irrevocable trust that does not include her. However, again, if it is a community property state, she would have to know about the trust.

If you have a medium to large estate with property, cash, annuities, etc., I would suggest that you get an attorney who is very experienced in probate and estate planning and see if there are ways to get around it, although frankly, I can't see any.

Edit: As for not having time to divorce, that choice is yours. Do you want to take the money and the time now, or do you want to die knowing that she is going to get half of your estate no matter what you do.
Get a good divorce attorney, make her a decent offer, and go on with your life. You might feel so good after freeing yourself of her, that you can live to be 100!

Answer 5

Most states have some sort of mandatory rules as to the spouse. IE: She gets 50% and the rest you can leave to who you want. It also depends upon what kind of state you live in. If you live in a community property state, it is assumed that all assets that are owned by the couple are community property, therefore go to the survivor. You might want to start shifting things into a trust for your children. If she agrees to that arrangement, she can not contest it after you are gone. A will can ALWAYS be contested.

Answer 6

You need to see a lawyer and write your will in such a way that she gets nothing. However, if you have been married for a long time and you have assets that you have accumulated together such as the house and cars she would still be legally entitled to them as property held jointly. That goes for the bank accounts. The only things you will be able to protect from her is your own personal property and pre-marital assets. I suggest you start divorce proceedings - that way you can be there to protect what you want protected.

Good Luck.

Answer 7

First and formost state it in your will that you are knowilling leaving her out of your will and leave nothing to her. You MUST state so in your will or she will be able to get things you mean to go to other people. Get that done first. second thing you want to do is make sure you put a freeze on your assets upon your death and state how long you want the freeze to last, probably best at least 2 to 3 months because as soon as she gets the death certificate she can and probably will go to the places and say "communitiy property" and will most likely get things. Make sure her name is NOT on any of your accounts as of right now. If you do not wish to divorce her you must do all of these things immediatly or she will take from you things you want to go to the rest of the family. another thing is make sure you talk to whomever is the executer of the will now and explain in detail why you want these things done and make it clear she is to get nothing.

Answer 8

give her the minimum required by law, or divorce her. she's entitled in most states to 1/3 if you have kids and 1/2 if you don't of your estate. you can try to write her out of your will, but if she challenges it for her 'dower right,' she'll win. she may not know she has a dower right, so if she doesn't challenge it, the court would probabte it like you wrote it.

figure out what your law is in your state. if its a progressive state, they may have gotten rid of that law. IF they have; leave her something nominal in you will, like $100. this way the court knows that you didn't just forget to put her in, and really did not want to leave her any more. as you'll be dead when this comes to a head, you can't talk for yourself at that point. you can also spell out your reasons in the will.
but note, if you do this...and then you make up, you need to change it back before you die, or you will have cut your wife out of your estate.

another way is to give your stuff away to your kids now, and then they just let you use it. you must trust your kids for this. if you do it 2 full years before you die, then its not yours anymore and it won't be passed through the probate laws. this is tricky, cause the courts don't like ppl doing this and if you try it then die before 2 years is up, then all the stuff gets sucked back into your estate. if you go this way, have a lawyer help you do it, so you have documentation that you really did give it away. that's for money. for items you can write up something that you either give or sell the object, but retain a life estate in it. meaning you get to use it till you die, but it really belongs to the other person, so while you get to use it, you can't change it or sell it without their permission.

yet another way is to put a contestation clause in it. leave her something worthwhile....like 1/4 of your estate or something, and then add that if she contests the will for any reason that you leave her nothing. this way if she contests and wins, she gets whatever the minimum of the state law is, but if she contests and loses she gets nothing, rather than the 1/4 you offered her to begin with.

good luck.

p.s. anything you two acquired during your marriage is marital property...no matter who's wages bought it. this is only half yours to give away...so she's gonna get (usually) half of that anyway, just like in a divorce. it is only the other half that you can try to keep away from her. when you see the 1/4 and 1/3 above, i'm talking about 1/4 of your 1/2 of the marital estate, and any property you owned on your own. plus, you'll need to see how you own your house. if you own it in "joint ownership," it doesn't matter what your will says because your interest passes automatically to her upon your death, the courts would never even look at her. there's a way to break joint ownership without telling the other person. its tricky and frowned upon and good luck finding a lawyer that will do it for you. if you can get it done, the house would just be shared property like everything else, and your 1/2 interest in it would be yours to give away at your death.

pps. lil peanut is only half right. talking to the executor of the will is not enough. the laws of wills and estates are exacting. what you write is what will happen, the judge will not bend from what is written to what he thinks you meant. they are rigid because you can't talk for yourself at that point and there is a lot of room for greedy people to take advantage. if you're married, it doesn't matter that your name is the only one on the account, except in that your wife can't pull out the money before the court orders the bank to let it go. but if she's entitled to it, she'll get it eventually anyway.

Answer 9

I am under the impression she gets half automatically. This is what I was told when I started working at my current job-I had to provide the names of beneficiaries for my life insurance and pension, and I was told then that my spouse automatically get 1/2-the beneficiaries are for the other half. You probably need to talk to an attorney, and for heaven's sakes, why would you stay married to someone who clearly makes you miserable?

Answer 10

im a law student and i took a course on wills. actually even if you dont leave her a thing in ur will, she will still get the house, and a percent of ur $$$, and the car she uses even if its under ur name. there is no way to take the house from her because that is homestead. even if u divorse her before u die she still gets the house. unless she signed a prenuptial agreement when u got married. if not sorry man but she will not be left on the street.