SPOUSAL PETITON CONTESTS

Spousal petition. A person claimed she was the legitimate spouse of the decedent and claimed community property rights to certain real properties. Decedent was a wealthy businessman who was also married to a very successful woman who owned an internationally known cosmetics company. Opposing beneficiaries claimed that petitioner was not the wife as decedent never divorced his first wife. A determination of whether decedent had legitimately divorced his first wife in a foreign country was in issue. Experts were called in from both sides to testify to the legitimacy of the foreign divorce decree. Further evidence indicated that decedent had married multiple women that were not part of the litigation.