SPOUSE NOT ENTITLED TO PROCEEDS OF A WILL CONTEST
IN A DIVORCE ACTION
Generally speaking, inherited property is non-marital and not subject to equitable distribution in a divorce case. In a case of first impression, the Pennsylvania Superior Court was faced with the question of whether a spouse in a divorce action is entitled to share in the proceeds received by her spouse, which resulted from the settlement of a Will contest initiated by the spouse.
In the case of Strauss v. Strauss, 2011 Pa. 159 (Pa. Super. 2011), Husband Wife were married in on November 22, 2000. There were no children of the marriage and the parties were both employed and of the same approximate age and education. On September 27, 2005, Husband’s Father died. Husband’s Father had executed a Will on September 1, 2005 which voided an earlier Will executed in 1991. Husband and his Brother were residuary beneficiaries under the terms of both Wills. However, the 2005 Will substantially reduced Husband’s share of his Father’s estate. Husband and Brother contested the Will in 2005 seeking to invalidate the 2005 Will and reinstate the 1991 Will. On December 11, 2006 a settlement was reached resulting in Husband and Brother each receiving $150,000.00. Husband and Wife separated and Husband filed a divorce action on December 19, 200.
Following a Divorce Master Hearing, the proceeds received by Husband from the settlement of the Will contest were determined to be non-marital property. Thus, the Divorce Master determined that Wife was not entitled to a portion of the proceeds. However, the trial court subsequently determined that Husband’s share of the Will contest settlement constituted marital property and granted Wife one-half of the funds. Husband filed an appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court.
The Superior Court determined that the proceeds of the Will contest settlement were non-marital property. This means that the money is was not subject to equitable distribution between he parties in divorce. The Court reasoned that the money paid to Husband came from the residuary estate and could only be distributed under the terms of the Will. Since the money was distributed through the Estate, the money was an inheritance and therefore non-marital. Therefore, Wife was not entitled to a share of the money received by Husband in this settlement, even though the cause of action accrued at the Father’s death and the claim involved a lawsuit. A request for reargument was filed in this case on August 12, 2011, so stay tuned for any changes that the Court may make regarding this decision.
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Debra R. Mehaffie, Esquire
Hynum Law, P.C.
