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Pat and Noel were married for 22 years. Pat died owning a probate estate worth $90,000. Six months before death, after a serious diagnosis, Pat transferred $800,000 of investment accounts into a revocable trust naming Pat's adult children from a prior marriage as beneficiaries. Pat retained the right to revoke the trust and receive all income during life. Pat's will left the probate estate to the children and made no provision for Noel. Noel never signed a premarital or marital agreement.
The state gives a surviving spouse an elective share of the decedent's augmented estate, including certain revocable trusts and transfers over which the decedent retained control. The children argue that Noel is limited to the probate estate because Pat validly placed the investments in trust before death. Noel also seeks a family allowance and exempt household property.
Discuss Noel's likely property rights as surviving spouse and the children's arguments.