What if your spouse is not forthright in disclosing the contents of his or her Last Will and Testament? Can one spouse create a Will that “leaves out” the marital partner?
In most states, one spouse cannot entirely “disinherit” or cut the other spouse out of his or her Will (assuming that the husband and wife were married at the time of death).
Most states allow the surviving spouse to “elect against a Will” should the deceased spouse attempt to disinherit him or her. This means that should one spouse attempt to leave nothing to his or her spouse, that surviving spouse can treat the Will like it did not exist (at least as it relates to that spouse) and elect to receive a certain portion of the deceased spouses estate as provided by state law (this percentage ranges from 30% – 50%, depending on a variety of factors).
However, except for this right to elect against the Will, it is doubtful that one spouse can demand or take any legal action to force his or her spouse to disclose his or her Will while that spouse is still alive.
Even if one spouse could force the other spouse to disclose the contents of a Will, the other spouse could then simply make a new Will, thereby terminating the document that was viewed by the other spouse.
Any married couple can easily create valid husband and wife Last Will and Testament documents that are equal to both parties with help from Standard Legal.