Re-examining standing of heirs and beneficiaries to challenge decedent’s marriage after death

Terry L. Turnipseed (Assistant Professor of Law, Syracuse University College of Law) has recently posted on SSRN his article entitled How Do I Love Thee, Let Me Count the Days: Deathbed Marriages in America. 

Here are excerpts from the introduction to his article:

Should you be able to marry someone who has only days to live? If so, should the government award the surviving spouse the many property rights that ordinarily flow from marriage?

In almost every state, the only person allowed to challenge the validity of a marriage (or, by extension, the property consequences thereof) after the death of one of the spouses is the surviving spouse! Seems incredible, does it not? The expectant heirs of a dying man (or woman) who marries on his (or her) deathbed cannot challenge the marriage post-death. Ironically, the one person allowed to challenge is the only person who has absolutely no motivation to do so.***

This article explores these and other related questions, including a proposed theoretical framework for a model act giving heirs and beneficiaries standing to sue in order to negate the property consequences that flow from marriage, depending on the level of mental capacity at the time of the marriage.***