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Can you write yourself out of a will (spoilers)?

posted 12 years ago by paulpaul55
4 replies | jump to latest

I don't think Rob Lowe could have written himself out of his wife's will. Isn't Meg Tilly the only one who could have changed the will?

[–] mjz688 12 years ago

Good point. I'm not a lawyer buy I have a lot of experience with wills (don't ask) and the only way I'm aware of that Lowe's character could have altered the will is if it was a joint will -- which is possible because married couples routinely do that, and there was that scene after they got married where they sit down with Tilly's lawyers to discuss their assets. But there's no clear indication in the movie that they did indeed decide to write a joint will.

[–] ExTechOp (2757) 2 years ago

Just saw this post but no, typically not.

It's called a "will" because it represents the "will" of the person controlling the property, not the will of the recipient.

However, Rob Lowe's character could have had his own will drafted by the lawyer, to give up any claim to any part of the estate. So we can pretend that he did so, and the lawyer was "translating" this process into layperson terms for the audience, at least.

[–] PaladinNJ (20324) 2 years ago

Makes more sense than him being able to change her will.

[–] ExTechOp (2757) 2 years ago

Actually, looking back on it, something that makes even more sense would be that Lowe's character TRIED to change the will, but was told by the lawyer that he couldn't.

The lawyer then tells Tilly's character about the attempt, as proof that he truly loved her.

But that'd only be a technical change, and an unnecessary change at that since we'd get the same dramatic outcome.

Also, overthinking this as I tend to do on this site and its predecessor, Lowe's attempt doesn't necessarily mean he loved her. Instead:

- He could've been trying to assuage his guilt over the conspiracy.

- He could've been trying to eliminate his own motivation to commit murder, once he learned she was carrying his child

- He could've been looking for a final way to stick it to Mike (so to speak)

- Or he could've just realized that, with all of Mike's evidence, he could get nailed for murders of Tilly's character and/or Anne Briscoe (Dana Delany's character). So if he gives up the money, he's back out on his own, free and less likely to face prison.

- worst case, and the film clearly doesn't remotely imply this, but Tilly's character wouldn't know what we know: Lowe's character KNEW he couldn't change the will, but wanted his attempt to do so to leak back to Tilly's character, further cementing her trust in him