James Brown's will drawn up before marriage

[AngryAmish]

"James Brown's will, which was read last week and excludes his partner, Tomi Rae Hynie, and their 5-year-old son, was drawn up 10 months before the child's birth and more than a year before their marriage, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
The will was signed Aug. 1, 2000, Strom Thurmond Jr., Brown's probate attorney in Aiken, S.C., told The Augusta Chronicle.

Brown, who died last month in Atlanta at age 73, married Hynie in December 2001. James Brown Jr. had been born six months earlier, on June 11.

The exclusion has added to a dispute about the soul singer's legacy.

Brown's attorneys contend that Hynie is not Brown's widow because she was still married to another man when they said their vows. They have said Hynie later annulled her previous marriage, but she and Brown never remarried. Hynie says she was legally married to Brown.

The will calls for Brown's personal effects to be divided equally among the singer's six adult children.

North Augusta, S.C., lawyer James Huff said that if a will specifically names some children but excludes others, the excluded children have no claim to the parent's assets, regardless of when they were born. Huff represented Brown when he sought to annul his marriage to Hynie in 2004, a petition the singer later dismissed."

in Illinois there is a saving provision for latter born children. Why is SC different?

[Pool Hall Ace]

1. I would think that minor children could not be excluded.

I don't know about spouses.

[Hosnon]

2. The minor most likely won't be. There are certain rules that allow children left out

to get put in.

Used mostly for when a child is born and a parent is killed before they get a chance to redo the will. If the parent would have intended the child be in the will, the court often may do so.

(Not legal advice) :)

[flvegan]

3. Strom Thurmond, Jr.

Good luck excluding that minor child, will or no will.

[lildreamer316]

4. This is just cruel.

If (and I certainly assume it can be in spades!) be proven that they were in a viable and continuous (or even not so much) relationship; and that she was living there and availed of his property and etc.; she as well as the child should be included.
I don't see why it matters so much to keep her out of it. I hope the other children do the right thing.

[idgiehkt]

5. every state is different

it's pretty crazy.