Plymouth, NC asked in Estate Planning for North Carolina

Q: My father is getting married again. He does not want to change his will he wants it to stay the same.

The new wife says she does not want any of the things he has before her.

But the children wants her to sign something stating that she will not have life time rights to the house or land.

The house property and bank accounts life insurances are willed to children and grand children. So we want to be clear and want her to sign something so it is legal and no change of heart later. So how do we get this legally done with out a pre-nup and re-writing the will?

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2 Lawyer Answers
Charles Evan Lohr
Charles Evan Lohr
Answered
  • Estate Planning Lawyer
  • Raleigh, NC
  • Licensed in North Carolina

A: They will both have to sign a pre-nuptial agreement. That is the only way to get her to waive her rights to the spouse allowance and elective share.

Ben Corcoran agrees with this answer

Ben Corcoran
PREMIUM
Ben Corcoran
Answered
  • Estate Planning Lawyer
  • Yadkinville, NC
  • Licensed in North Carolina

A: As Mr. Lohr said a prenup is the only way to completely disinherit a spouse.

If you want to not redo a will or get a prenup. There are ways you can prevent the will from distributing assets. You can put your side of the family as right of survivorship on all of the accounts and make a new deed with members of the family owning the house jointly with right of survivorship. Speak to a local estate attorney and they should be able to walk you through the steps to set up the assets to be handled outside of the will.

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