Estate of Robert Wellford Lineweaver, Deceased, North Carolina Trust Company, Executor - Page 18

                                       - 18 -                                         
          time he executed his 1982 will, decedent was clearly under a                
          legal obligation to retain Kathleen as a beneficiary on his life            
          insurance in an amount of at least $100,000, since the spouses              
          were not then divorced and Kathleen had of course not remarried.            
          The 1982 will directs decedent's executor "to carry out those               
          obligations of mine set forth in the aforementioned Deed of                 
          Separation which survive my death."  No such language appears in            
          Article IV of the 1984 and 1987 wills.  The 1984 and 1987 wills             
          make no reference to any event terminating decedent's obligation,           
          yet, it is clear that once both conditions were met, decedent               
          would no longer have any such obligation under the Deed of                  
          Separation.  Mr. Johnson, the attorney who drafted the 1984 and             
          1987 wills, failed to consult the Deed of Separation and, if he             
          knew about the divorce and Kathleen's remarriage, he failed to              
          consider the effect of Kathleen's remarriage when drafting those            
          later wills.  Mr. Johnson was wholly unfamiliar with the terms of           
          the Deed of Separation; he simply accepted decedent's                       
          representation that the 1982 will mirrored the terms of the Deed            
          of Separation and that decedent did not want any changes in                 
          Article IV of the will except a few minor word changes which Mr.            
          Johnson made.  The Court accepts that the 1982 will did mirror              
          decedent's obligation under the Deed of Separation at the time              
          that will was executed; however neither Mr. Johnson nor decedent            
          seems to have considered the fact that in the intervening period            
          there had ensued a divorce and Kathleen's remarriage.  In any               




Page:  Previous  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25  Next

Last modified: May 25, 2011