ESTATE OF McKIDDY

737 P.2d 317, 47 Wash. App. 774
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedMay 26, 1987
Docket17861-0-I
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 737 P.2d 317 (ESTATE OF McKIDDY) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
ESTATE OF McKIDDY, 737 P.2d 317, 47 Wash. App. 774 (Wash. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

47 Wn. App. 774 (1987)
737 P.2d 317

In the Matter of the Estate of ROBERT P. McKIDDY.
SUSAN L. RUDOLPH, Appellant,
v.
FLORENCE McKIDDY, Respondent.

No. 17861-0-I.

The Court of Appeals of Washington, Division One.

May 26, 1987.

William A. Gould, Perkins, Coie, Stone, Olsen & Williams, and Joseph A. Moschetto, for appellant.

Terrence L. Burns, Burns & Ells, and Wayne R. Parker, for respondent.

*775 DORE, J.[*]

RCW 11.12.050 provides that a will executed prior to marriage is deemed revoked as to the surviving spouse unless the spouse is provided for or mentioned in the will or unless provision has been made for the surviving spouse by marriage settlement. We hold that a void prenuptial agreement cannot constitute a "marriage settlement" for the purpose of rebutting the presumption of revocation of a will under RCW 11.12.050. We affirm.

FACTS

Decedent Robert McKiddy and respondent Florence McKiddy (then Florence Fairchild) became engaged after a 2-week acquaintance. Robert, then 61 years old, was a businessman and Florence, then 59 years old, had clerical experience and a high school education. Both had adult children by prior marriages. Soon after the engagement, Florence began working as office manager of Robert's surveying business.

On December 11, 1984, Robert, a domineering man, took Florence to his lawyer's office to discuss a prenuptial agreement. The attorney sent them a draft agreement shortly thereafter. Robert and Florence had the draft modified to give them each the full benefit of the other's social security and to give Florence the accounts receivable of the surveying business if she survived Robert. On December 20, 1984, 1 day before their wedding, Robert and Florence met with the attorney and signed the prenuptial agreement. The attorney advised them that it was unnecessary for Florence to have independent counsel.

The prenuptial agreement does not specifically list the items of property owned by Robert, and Florence had no way of knowing the amount, character or value of his property prior to executing the agreement. The agreement basically defines Robert's and Florence's assets as separate property and waives all marital rights in each other's estate, *776 including an award in lieu of homestead. Under the agreement, the increases in the separate property, including Robert's business except for the accounts receivable, were to remain separate to the same extent as if the marriage had never been consummated.

Robert died 4 months after the marriage with Florence, leaving an estate worth over $1 million. Robert's will, made several years earlier, bequeathed his estate to his children and his former wife. He had discussed making a new will providing for Florence, but had failed to do so.

Susan Rudolph, one of Robert's children and the personal representative of the separate estate, brought this proceeding under RCW 11.96.070. She sought a declaration that the prenuptial agreement was valid and binding, and constituted a marriage settlement for the purposes of RCW 11.12.050. Florence McKiddy counterclaimed for a declaration that the agreement was void at its inception, and therefore the will was revoked as to her. The court found in favor of Florence, holding the prenuptial agreement void and thus not a marriage settlement for the purposes of RCW 11.12.050; the court then awarded Florence her intestate share of her husband's estate.

EFFECT OF A VOID MARRIAGE SETTLEMENT ON A WILL

The Washington Supreme Court in Friedlander v. Friedlander, 80 Wn.2d 293, 494 P.2d 208 (1972) set forth standards for determining the validity of a prenuptial agreement. The court noted that an engagement to marry creates a confidential relationship, and parties to a prenuptial agreement do not deal with each other at arm's length; they therefore must exercise good faith, candor and sincerity in all matters bearing upon the proposed agreement. Friedlander, at 301.

Where a prenuptial contract makes provision for a wife that is disproportionate to the means of the intended husband, it casts a burden upon the intended husband, and those claiming under him, to prove that she had full *777 knowledge of all the facts and circumstances that materially affected the contract.

(Citations omitted.) Friedlander, at 301. The court further stated:

[The intended wife] must at least have a full and fair disclosure of all material facts relating to the amount, character and value of the property involved so that she will not be prejudiced by the lack of information, but can intelligently determine whether she desires to enter the prenuptial contract....
Further, the prospective spouse must sign the agreement freely and voluntarily on independent advice with full knowledge of her rights.

(Citations omitted.) Friedlander, at 302-03.

The trial court found that the prenuptial agreement fails to meet the Friedlander requirements for a number of reasons. Considering that Robert and Florence could not have known that their marriage would end by death after only 4 months, the agreement waiving all rights in the estate, including an award in lieu of homestead, was disproportionate to Robert's means. Robert had led Florence to believe he had less property than he did. Florence was not informed of the amount, character and value of his property. Florence had no independent advice of counsel, and the attorney that drafted the agreement represented Robert.

Rudolph does not now contend that the prenuptial agreement is valid and enforceable. She instead argues that even if the agreement is void as a prenuptial agreement under the Friedlander standards, it should nevertheless be considered a "marriage settlement" for purposes of RCW 11.12.050. RCW 11.12.050 provides:

If, after making any will, the testator shall marry and the spouse shall be living at the time of the death of the testator, such will shall be deemed revoked as to such spouse, unless provision shall have been made for such survivor by marriage settlement, or unless such survivor be provided for in the will or in such way mentioned therein as to show an intention not to make such provision, and no other evidence to rebut the presumption of *778 revocation shall be received. A divorce, subsequent to the making of a will, shall revoke the will as to the divorced spouse.

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Bluebook (online)
737 P.2d 317, 47 Wash. App. 774, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-mckiddy-washctapp-1987.