Iowa Estate Plan

The rights of a surviving spouse (male or female) in Iowa are not exactly "clear cut".  When you have numerous methods on how property can pass at death (named beneficiary, joint ownership, will, trust, intestate) and sprinkle in second marriage situations with kids from an earlier relationship, you can create a minefield of problems.  I have written previously on a court's allowance of the disinheritance of a spouse  in a December 2009 district court case.  In a different district court, another court has taken a different approach. Betty Rich was the surviving spouse of William Rich.  William Rich had three daughters from a prior marriage and none from his marriage with Betty.  Mr. Rich's will & trust combo created the standard AB trust with the QTIP provisions.  (Another future blog post.)  Betty wasn't thrilled with what she was receiving under her husband's estate plan (or from the insurance policies) so she proceeded to opt for her e...

The Iowa Court of Appeals issued a ruling today affirming a ruling of an appeal in a will contest case.  The contestants to the will were basing their argument that the testator (decedent) lacked sufficient capacity to execute her will as she suffered from certain delusions as to certain family members/beneficiaries.  According to the ruling, certain medical evidence was properly excluded as the proposed evidence related to medical information after the execution of the will, and not during the time period the will was executed.  In other words, any evidence concerning the testator AFTER the signing of the will may not be relevant in determining capacity at the time of signing the will.  In this case, the testator was diagnosed with cancer after signing the will and was under medication for that treatment.  The contestants also objected to the jury instructions used in referring to the delusions.  The Court rejected the appeal and affirmed the findings of t...