Relates to the disqualification of a surviving spouse

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why the sponsor says this is needed

New York State's Estates, Power and Trust Law, EPTL, permits a surviving spouse with a right of election to take a share of the decedent's estate as long as the parties were married on the date of the decedent's death. Thus, a husband or wife is a surviving spouse unless it can be estab- lished satisfactorily to the court that any grounds for disqualification within EPTL are present including, among others, final decree or judg- ment of divorce, annulment or other formal declaration of the nullity of a marriage at the time of the decedents death. Currently, under the New York's Domestic Relations Law a marriage in New York can be annulled post-death. However, this post-death status has no effect on the right of a spouse to take an elective share of decedent's assets because NYS EPTL 5-1.2 specifies that it is the marital status of the parties at the time of the decedent death that controls in New York. Hence, several recent court decisions have highlighted a specific type of elder abuse where a person takes unfair advantage of an individual who lacks the capacity to enter into a marriage or otherwise utilizes fraud and undue influence to secretly marry the individual for the purpose of obtaining a portion of his or her estate at the expense of the intended heirs. If they are married at the time of the decedents death, none of the grounds for disqualification under the existing EPTL statute 5-1.2 exist, and the surviving "spouse" is entitled to his or her elective share under EPTL 5-1.1 unless the court intervenes for equitable reasons or the court determines the statute ordains the protection of fraud. Yet, some courts have been reluctant to do this in light of the present unambiguous and strict statutory language. This legislation focuses on the disqualification ground concerning a final decree of annulment or other formal declaration of the nullity of a marriage which exists at the time of the decedent's death. It would make the EPTL statute compatible with the remedial actions authorized under the Domestic Relations Law, permitting the disqualification of a spouse on the annulment of the marriage before or after the death of the decedent.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.