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<p>Law Office of<br>
<strong>F.ANDREKITA SILVA</strong><br>
<strong>_______________________________________________________ </strong><br>
<br>
May 1, 2023<br>
<br>
Jon,<br>
<br>
I would vote for the second option- that A takes 100%.<br>
<br>
When construing the provisions of a will, you have to try to ascertain the testator’s intent from the language of the instrument itself, considering the entire instrument and giving effect to every part of the instrument.<br>
<br>
It is true that the testator includes his “grandchildren” in the first clause where he says they “share and share alike.” However, the words “by right of representation” would be meaningless if you say the grandkids take in equal shares to the testator’s own children. When looking at the Will as a whole, it seems the testator was trying to differentiate his “children” from his “grandchildren" by using those two terms. Otherwise, you’d have to construe the Will to mean the testator wanted his grandchildren’s children to take by representation in the event a child of his left predeceased him, leaving a child (a grandchild), and that grandchild predeceased him, too. He did probably want that but it seems less probable that he drafted with that scenario in mind, and more probable that the testator intended for his grandchildren to take by right of representation (and not equally.)<br>
<br>
It is, admittedly, a terribly written Will. Enough for grandkids to fight for an equal share with A. <br>
I hope a lawyer didn’t prepare the Will!<br>
<br>
My 2 cents. I’m curious what others think. Keep us posted!! <br>
<br>
andrekita<br>
Law Office of F. Andrekita Silva<br>
1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 940<br>
Seattle, Washington 98101-2509<br>
206-224-8288<br>
<a href="http://www.seattle-silvalaw.com/">www.seattle-silvalaw.com</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Quoting Jon Fritzler <<a href="mailto:FritzlerLaw@outlook.com">FritzlerLaw@outlook.com</a>>:</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>I would appreciate hearing how others would interpret the following Will provision:</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>“I give all of my estate to my children, A and B, and my grandchildren X, Y, and Z, and any children born subsequent hereto, to be divided equally among said children, share and share alike, or to their children by right of representation: PROVIDED, that as any child of mine who has not reached the age of 25 years at the time of my death, such child’s share of my estate shall go to my Trustee hereinafter name in TRUST.”</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Assume that child B predeceased the testator and left no descendants and X, Y, and Z are all adult children of A. </span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>I see two possible interpretations: A, X, Y, and Z each take 25% because the phrase “I give all of my estate to my children, A and B, and my grandchildren X, Y, and Z” includes the grandchildren, or, A takes 100% because the phrase “to be divided equally among said children share and share alike, or to their children by right of representation” means that A’s children are only contingent beneficiaries and since A survived the testator they take nothing. </span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Thoughts?</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none'>Sincerely,<br>
Jon M. Fritzler<br>
Attorney at Law<br>
717 E. 22<sup>nd</sup> St.<br>
Vancouver, WA 98663<br>
Tel. 360.818.4431<br>
Eml <a href="mailto:fritzlerlaw@outlook.com" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">fritzlerlaw@outlook.com</span></a><br>
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