Only in California

Law.com's newswire has an interesting article about a recent California case.  Here are the facts:

Soon after crane operator Raymond Corder died in a construction accident in May 2001, Shaoping "Sherry" Corder -- his wife of eight months -- and Lisa Corder -- his adult daughter from a first marriage -- filed wrongful death actions that were consolidated.

The two got a $1.1 million settlement, but couldn't agree how to apportion it. At a subsequent trial, Lisa Corder presented evidence that she and her father were very close and that he had been preparing to divorce his new wife because she allegedly was working as a prostitute against his wishes.

Giving the seemingly imminent divorce great weight, Orange County Superior Court Judge Randell Wilkinson allocated 90 percent of the settlement money to Corder's daughter and 10 percent to his second wife.

Surprisingly enough, Santa Ana's 4th District Court upheld the ruling.  If this case had occurred in Illinois, I have to assume that our courts would have ignored woulda/coulda/shoulda scenarios about possible divorce, and would have awarded Mr. Corder's wife half of his probate property (with the other half passing to his descendants).