When is a gift not a gift?
Posted on | August 19, 2009 | No Comments
In a recent case, the second paragraph of a will gave a piece of land to the testator‘s wife “to be hers absolutely forever.”
The third paragraph of the will gave the land to the testator‘s sons in the event of the simultaneous death of the testator and his wife or “upon the death of the survivor of us.”
The wife survived the testator, remarried and made a new will giving the land to her new husband. When the wife died, the sons contested the probate of her will on the basis that the third paragraph of the will only gave the wife the land until her death at which time it passed to the sons.
The court ruled for the beneficiaries of the wife’s will and against the sons. They said “the “Second” paragraph conveys Robert’s property to Mildred in clear and decisive language. The language of the “Third” paragraph, when read as a whole, provides for the contingency of simultaneous deaths and does not clearly and expressly limit the estate conveyed in the “Second” paragraph.” Therefore, the land belonged to the wife absolutely. 281 SW3d 457.
Comments
Leave a Reply
Visit Our Website
Twitter and Facebook Us
About this blog
Popular catagories
Tags
Recent Posts
- Supreme Court rules children born by IVF not entitled to social security benefits.
- In Developing Countries, Lack of Inheritance Rights for Women May Depress the Country’s Economy
- Do the Witnesses to a Will Have to Know They are Witnessing a Will?
- BBC reports that 20% of Wills in the UK May Contain Mistakes
- Is There an Attorney Client Privilege in a Will Contest?
- Change In Massachusetts’ Probate Law Benefits Spouses.
- Do Ex-pats Worry About Inheritance Laws?
- “You never really know a person until you’ve shared an inheritance with them”
- Will contest in Australia.
- Can you create a trust with my money?