Why would you renounce a will<\/strong>? If there is a Will, the surviving spouse can renounce<\/em> it and the inheritance it contains (if any), and instead elect to take a share of the estate specifically provided by state law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a legal device originally intended for the protection of the wife. Historically, all of a family\u2019s property might be titled solely in the husband’s name. The “elective share” protects a woman (or man) against being “written out” of a spouse’s Will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, a husband might have all the couple’s property in his name alone, and write a Will directing all of it to his children by a previous marriage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The wife could file a petition in probate court to take her “elective share” of the estate under state law. Usually the surviving spouse can take about one third to one half of the estate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That share varies among the states, and so does the definition of “estate” that is used in the calculation. Also, state laws contain a very wide variety of significant details, limits, dollar allowances and exceptions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These are all involved in determining what and how much property the surviving spouse can elect to take from the deceased spouse’s estate, instead of whatever he\/she is left in the Will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This provision is however, only possible when there is no prenuptial agreement in place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"