Let’s say hypothetically that your spouse cheated on you, got caught and then bred a baby in the affair, all while you’re suffering from some incurable disease.
Then, when it comes time to devise a will for your family, do you keep this “cheater” in the books?
Some women may look the other way, others may pack their bags and leave. Not Elizabeth Edwards. Women like Elizabeth do none of the above, and then some.
According to a ChicagoTribune.com article, Elizabeth left her ex-husband, former Democratic nominee John Edwards, out of her will. (*gasp*)
Now, I don’t know about you, but when I first caught wind of this, I wasn’t and am still not too surprised.
Elizabeth represented poise, grace, maturity and elegance. She weathered the storms of her illness coupled with the affair the best way any woman knows how, and for that, I commend her. She even purchased gifts for “the child born from the affair.”
That being said, what does she owe him anyway? While she was at home recovering from extensive chemo treatments, he was letting his doo-danger hang out.
Elizabeth’s “final act” of redemption exemplified more than strength and willpower. Every woman that has been scorn, cheated on, left behind or treated poorly rejoiced just a bit more because of Elizabeth’s loud but subtle actions.
What would you do?
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Comments
Under Illinois law (and I'm sure many others), a husband (even a cheating SOB) could contest such a will in probate court. By doing so, he could then request the court give him his share of his wife's estate purusant to a states "intestate" laws. If you really want your husband to have no claim on your estate, you should divorce him. For Mrs. Edwards that probably wasn't an option.
An even better option than writing your cheating ex out of your will or divorce would be to set up a living trust. Designate yourself as a beneficiary while you are alive and then your children upon your death. A properly executed trust does not go through probate court (it exists as its own entity) and thus your desire to cut your cheating spouse out of your estate would be achieved.
I say that it took a lot of courage to keep going, and that is the way that most of us has had to continue in this life.
All I can say is "You Go Girl and More Power To You". May she find peace in her salvation.
Good for Elizabeth. She made the right decision...oh, and by the way, you said "doo-danger." He he.
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