estate planning

“Mutual” will with third wife fails to defeat fourth wife’s omitted spouse claim

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Early in my career, I practiced briefly in the area of estate planning. I attended week-long seminars and poured over tax laws. I even drafted a few irrevocable trusts for wealthy clients. But I was also representing real estate developers, and, at some point decided that I couldn’t keep up in both areas. So, I dropped estate planning in favor of real estate.

But real estate lawyers need to know enough about estate planning to figure out who gets the real estate at the death of the owner, so the two areas often overlap, and I was often thankful I had a background in estate planning.

I found a recent Court of Appeals case involving an omitted spouse claim by a fourth wife fascinating. Ward v. Ward* involved a mutual will and related documents between Stephen Ward and his third wife, Nancy.

The spouses generally intended that the death of one would cause their assets to “pour over” into a trust controlled by the other. After the death of the surviving spouse, any remaining assets would be disbursed among each spouse’s children and heirs as detailed in their wills and trust documents. Both parties agreed that they would not amend the documents after the death of the first spouse.

Those documents were executed in 2005. Nancy died in 2011. Later that year, Stephen began dating Mary, and they married in 2013. At the time of marriage, Stephen was 69 and Mary was 88. Stephen died in 2016.

After Stephen’s death, his children sought to probate his estate, and Mary filed a petition seeking to have herself declared an omitted spouse.

Several witnesses testified that Stephen’s intent when he executed the estate planning documents was to have those documents enforced as written, and that his estate plan would not be altered by a subsequent marriage.

The Court of Appeals agreed that a testator’s intention, as expressed in his will, governs the construction of the will if it does not conflict with law or public policy. But the Court held that the testator’s intent must fail when it conflicts with the probate codes’ protection of a surviving spouse.

Mary had only to prove that Stephen’s will was executed prior to their marriage and that it did not provide for her. Her claim to an omitted spouse’s share was affirmed.

Justice Geathers dissented, stating that the only evidence in the present case shows that years before he met Mary, Stephen made it clear that he meant to leave a subsequent spouse nothing.

Interesting case! I wonder whether our Supreme Court will have the chance to weigh in.

*South Carolina Court of Appeals Opinion 6073 (July 24, 2024).

SC Supreme Court Expands Attorney Liability

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Erika Fabian, the niece of a wealthy South Carolina doctor brought suit against her uncle’s estate planning attorneys for professional negligence and breach of contract in Fabian v. Lindsay, 410 S.C. 475, 765 S.E.2d 132, an October 2014 case decided by the South Carolina Supreme Court. The case had been dismissed in the circuit court for failure to state a cause of action on the grounds that there was no attorney-client relationship and no privity.

The facts were viewed in the light most favorable to willand testamentMs. Fabian. She alleged that her uncle, Denis Fabian, had signed a trust agreement drafted by his attorneys when he was around 80 years old, leaving his wife, who was about 20 years younger, a life interest. Remainder beneficiaries included his wife’s two daughters from a prior marriage, Dr. Fabian’s one living brother, Eli Fabian, who was in his 70’s and not in good health, and two nieces, Miriam Fabian, Eli’s daughter, and Erika Fabian, the daughter of a predeceased brother.

Erika had been told by her uncle and his wife that when his wife passed away, one half of the estate would be distributed to Mrs. Fabian’s daughters, and the other half would be distributed to Dr. Fabian’s nieces.

Dr. Fabian died in early 2000, and his brother died a few weeks later. The trust was valued at approximately $13 million.

After Dr. Fabian’s death, his estate planners mailed a letter and two pages of the trust agreement to Ms. Fabian informing her that she would not be receiving anything from the estate. Instead, her cousin Miriam would inherit as Eli’s only heir. Erika alleged that a drafting error resulted in an unexpected windfall to her cousin.

gavel cashThe Court took a huge leap, joined the vast majority of states, and recognized causes of action, both in tort and contract, by a third-party beneficiary of an existing will or estate planning document against a lawyer whose drafting error defeats or diminishes the client’s intent. Recovery under either cause of action was limited to individuals named in the estate planning document or otherwise identified in the instrument by their status.

Interestingly, the Court stated that its decision did not place an undue burden on estate planning attorneys because it merely puts them in the same position as most other attorneys by making them responsible for their professional negligence.

Ms. Fabian had argued that an estate planning lawyer’s negligence impacts three potential classes of plaintiffs: (1) the client, who is deceased; (2) the client’s estate, which lacks a cause of action or damages or both; and (3) the intended beneficiaries, the only possible plaintiffs who might suffer harm. If no cause of action is available for the beneficiaries, the negligent drafting lawyer is effectively immune from liability.

Also interesting was the Court’s application of the new rule to cases on appeal as of the date of the opinion. In a separate opinion, Justice Pleicones stated that the new rule should only apply prospectively because this case creates new liability where formerly none existed.

While not technically a dirt case, real estate practitioners should take note of the court’s inclination to favor third-party beneficiaries and reflect whether the Justices’ thought process could affect our world.