Gray v. Gray

John Gray executed a will leaving his entire estate to his wife Mary before their son Jack was born; John's will omitted his two children from a prior marriage entirely, and Mary's bequest was later revoked by operation of law when John and Mary divorced (with a separate property settlement requiring John to place inherited assets in trust for Jack, which he never did before dying without updating his will). When John's estate executor (defendant) sought to probate the will, Jack (plaintiff) petitioned for an intestate share as an omitted child under Alabama's omitted-child statute, which grants such a share unless, among other exceptions, the testator had children living at execution and left the entire estate to the omitted child's other parent while omitting all children.