All About Estates

Tag: Interpretation

Total 2 Posts

What Happens to the Residue of an Estate when a Life Tenant Survives all other Beneficiaries?

In a recent British Columbia case, the court was asked to interpret the residue clause of a will. The testator’s wife held a life interest in the Estate’s property and was a beneficiary of an ongoing testamentary trust. However, both her stepchildren (and presumed receipients of the residue of the…

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Interpreting “Per Stirpes” In Ambiguous Wills

“The ghosts of dissatisfied testators,” a Chancery judge once noted, “Wait on the banks of the Styx for the judges who misconstrued their wills.” As such, the court will take great care to ensure that wills are properly interpreted, even if they are oblique or confusing. This was the situation…

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