• 02
  • June
    2011

A wealthy car dealer made some changes to his will that turned out to be rather controversial. Before he died, the man amended his will to leave a large amount of money and some property in Florida to his mistress. When the car dealer died and it was time for the heirs to inherit, the mistress wanted to collect what was coming to her under the will.

The man's wife and children contested the will, though. Under a previous will, the wife, children and grandchildren of the car dealer inherited the bulk of the man's assets. They claimed that the will which gave a large amount of the estate to the mistress was not valid, because the car dealer lacked capacity. He was drinking heavily at the time. In fact, it was alleged that he was drinking a gallon and a half of wine every day.

A probate court in Georgia decided that the mistress should not inherit under that state's probate law.

However, because one of the condominiums that the car dealer left to his mistress was located in Florida, the GA Supreme Court ruled that Florida law should apply to that piece of property. Florida contested will attorneys note that Florida has a law that is designed to protect heirs named in a will from being disinherited. The protection in Florida is stronger than that available in Georgia, and since the condominium was located in Florida, the court agreed that the Florida law controlled the outcome with respect to that piece of property.

The Florida condo is worth around $1.3 million. That is less than the $6 million the mistress might have expected to receive if she had been able to inherit everything bequeathed to her in the disputed will, but it is still a significant amount.

One of the justices that disagreed with the majority's decision argued that since the condo was sold, the court was misapplying the law. This justice said that the will only gave the mistress the condominium, not the proceeds from the sale of the condominium.

Nonetheless, the court ruled in her favor on the Florida condominium, and the decision is unlikely to be overturned.

Source: Miami Herald "Ga. court sides with mistress in estate battle" 5/31/2011