{"id":10725,"date":"2018-03-06T02:30:23","date_gmt":"2018-03-06T02:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/?p=10725"},"modified":"2025-06-18T17:34:29","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T22:34:29","slug":"an-inheritance-lost-early-estate-grab-goes-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/legal-talk\/an-inheritance-lost-early-estate-grab-goes-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"An Inheritance Lost – Early Estate Grab Goes Wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Here is how to lose your grandmother’s 4.15 carat marquise cut diamond ring to your former wife.<\/p>\n

First, when your grandmother dies, become the administrator of her estate.<\/p>\n

Second, pull your grandmother\u2019s very valuable diamond ring from the custodian account in a New York bank and have it sent to you. Do this even though you have not settled the entire estate, and you are not the only beneficiary entitled to the estate.<\/p>\n

Third, give your fianc\u00e9e the ring, and do not protest when she takes to a jeweler to mount the diamond in a new setting.<\/p>\n

Fourth, get married and then promptly get divorced.<\/p>\n

Intrigued? Here is how this story played out, according to the 1977 court of appeals opinion. Grandmother died, leaving a will that named her grandson and several others as beneficiaries. Grandson\u2019s share of the estate was 28.33%.<\/p>\n

Grandmother\u2019s will was admitted to probate, and grandson named estate administrator. That meant he had a duty to gather her assets, pay her debts, and then distribute what was left to the beneficiaries.<\/p>\n

Grandson apparently had his eye on grandmother\u2019s jewelry. He distributed several pieces to himself including the 4.15 carat marquise cut diamond ring. He then gave the ring to his beloved fianc\u00e9. She promptly popped over to the jeweler\u2019s and had the diamond placed in a new setting.<\/p>\n

Grandson and fianc\u00e9 got married and divorced. The divorce court determined that grandson\u2019s wife got to keep the ring, but ordered that it remain in a safety deposit box for a year to give the other beneficiaries time to assert a claim against it.<\/p>\n

Grandson and grandmother\u2019s other beneficiaries were not happy, but the result stood in the appellate court.<\/p>\n

Here is why. When grandmother died, her assets immediately \u201cvested\u201d in the beneficiaries. That means each beneficiary owned an undivided share of the assets, subject only to the claims of grandmother\u2019s creditors.<\/p>\n

So grandson owned 28 1\/3 % of the ring. He had a right to give away his share of the estate. He did just that. The divorce court had a right to determine the property interests of the divorcing couple, and it decided to believe wife\u2019s version that grandson gave her the ring as an engagement ring prior to their marriage, which made it her separate property.<\/p>\n

But what about the other beneficiaries\u2019 right to their 71 2\/3% of the ring? Well, the beneficiaries were not parties to the divorce, so their rights could not be determined by the divorce court. The divorce court, instead, secured the ring and gave the beneficiaries a year to pursue their claim in the probate court.<\/p>\n

Apparently the probate court was unsympathetic.<\/p>\n

Lessons learned:<\/p>\n