Can I give away all my property so my spouse gets nothing with Oklahoma Estate Planning?

I’m not sure why someone would want to do this, but in Oklahoma there are laws that prohibit it.

One is the statutory prohibition on the right of a spouse to will away from the surviving spouse so much of the estate that the surviving spouse would receive less in value than an undivided one-half interest in the property acquired by joint industry of the husband and wife during coverture.   A person cannot disinherit a spouse without some type of prior agreement.

If a spouse tries to do this, the surviving spouse has the right of “election”: the obligation imposed upon a party to choose between two inconsistent or alternative rights or claims in cases where there is a clear intention of the person from whom he derives the right that he should not enjoy both.

One exception to this rule is if there is value pre-nuptial agreement.

If you have any questions about this post, Oklahoma estate planning, Wills, Trust or Oklahoma probate, feel free to contact me anytime at sjr@shawnjroberts.com.

 

 

 

 

Posted by Shawn Roberts

On this blog, I write about and try to answer practical Oklahoma legal questions. My focus and most experience is in estate planning and business issues including Oklahoma non-compete law. I make a living as an attorney in the law firm I founded, Shawn J. Roberts, P.C. in Oklahoma City. I live in Edmond with my wife Amy and my two children, Sam (19) and David (11). We live precisely in the path of where the "wind comes sweeping down the plains."