Coming to terms regarding inheritance concerns is a natural part of the process when divorcing spouses sit down to settle their legal and financial affairs in a written agreement. The interest in settling inheritance issues becomes particularly important to couples where there are children of the marriage and couples are confronted with the possibility that a subsequent remarriage will jeopardize the children’s or their own inheritance rights.

In a perfect world, attorneys that draft agreements that contemplate inheritance issues are best suited if they have some level of expertise in estate planning and estate matters, in addition to being experienced matrimonial lawyers. This is underscored by the fact that, time and again, we see disputes that arise after one spouse dies over the meaning and intent of marital agreements concerning inheritance rights that could have been avoided had an experienced estate practitioner laid eyes on the agreements. This article is intended only to highlight some common issues and case-fact patterns to provide examples that shine a light on this overarching problem.