Jerry Lewis was a legendary comedian, but his family life appears to have been no laughing matter.
He had six sons with his first wife whom he married in 1944 and divorced in 1980. He married a second wife in 1983 and eventually adopted a newborn daughter with her.
Shortly after adopting the child, Lewis is believed to have cut all ties with his sons from his first wife for unknown reasons.
Some details from his will have now been released. He cut all of those sons out of it, according to the Los Angeles Times in “Jerry Lewis excludes his sons from his will.”
Lewis did not give any specific reasons why he disinherited his sons.
It is not known whether the sons will contest the will. However, if they want to, then because Lewis left them nothing, any no-contest clause would not prevent them from challenging the will in probate.
That could turn out to be a mistake, since even losing will contests can end up costing estates a lot of time and money.
If you would like to exclude any children of yours from your estate plan, then it is important that you do so properly.
It is best to seek out the advice of an experienced elder law attorney, so you can figure out how to disinherit a child in a way that makes it less likely the child will launch costly legal challenges that will hold up in court.
Reference: Los Angeles Times (Sep. 22, 2017) “Jerry Lewis excludes his sons from his will.”
