Clymer v. Mayo
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
473 N.E.2d 1084 (1985)
Clara Mayo created a revocable trust and a pour-over will naming her then-husband James (defendant) as life beneficiary of the trust, with nieces and nephews as remainder beneficiaries, and separately named the trust's trustees as beneficiary of her life insurance and retirement plans; the trust was never funded during her lifetime and only received assets at her death through the pour-over will. After Clara and James divorced, she changed her life insurance beneficiary but never updated the trust document naming James. When Clara died, her parents (who would inherit if the trust were invalid) and the question of whether Massachusetts' automatic-revocation-on-divorce statute reached the trust reached the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Whether a Massachusetts statute automatically revoking bequests to a former spouse in a will also applies to a revocable trust that is funded entirely at the settlor's death through a pour-over will.