Illinois Matrimonial & Family Law

Wills & Estates

by Wes Cowell; updated 13 February 2016 -- suggest a correction

A divorce invalidates any bequests to a former spouse — even if the will was prepared before the marriage.  Need advice?   Call, leave your info, or scheduleschedule a consult.

Illinois’ Probate Act says that once a couple divorces, any language in their wills that would have left property to their (now former) spouse is not enforceable.  If you expect to inherit money from your former spouse – even if the language is specific in the will – the inheritance won’t happen once the divorce is finalized.  A new, post-divorce will must be prepared and executed.

Even when a person names a friend as a beneficiary under his will, marries that friend, a subsequent divorce absolutely revokes any legacy or devise to the friend / former-spouse.  The revocation-by-divorce provision of the Probate Act applies whether the testator executed his will before or after his marriage and prevents a devisee (one who inherits) from taking the estate she would have received had she never married the testator.  In re:  Estate of Forest, 302 Ill.App.3d 1021, 706 N.E.2d 1043 (3d Dist., 1999).