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The Troubled Relationship Of Will Contracts And Spousal Protection: Time For An Amicable Separation, Carolyn L. Dessin

Carolyn L. Dessin

We live in a society with rapidly changing familial norms. Statistics show that one out of every two marriages ends in divorce, and even higher divorce rates are projected. The number of people who remarry following a divorce also is increasing.

Much has been written about the effect of the changing family patterns on estate planning. In the era when having only one spouse and one set of children was the norm, it was fairly simple to develop a rational system for dividing the person's estate among spouse and children. In recent decades, however, the growing number of multiple marriages …