WILLS - CONSTRUCTION OF TECHNICAL TERMS

Authors

Michigan Law Review, University of Michigan Law School

Abstract

Testatrix' will executed in 1916 provided, inter alia, "In case of the death of any of the above named children, I give . . . his share to his heirs." A son of testatrix died in 1929, survived only by his widow, complainant here, and his mother. In March 1938, the New York Decedent Estate Law was amended to provide that the word "heirs" when used in a statute, will or in any other written instrument prescribing the devolution of property rights, without express or implied declaration to the contrary, should be construed to mean the distributees, including a surviving spouse. Testatrix died in December, 1938. Complainant then brought this suit to obtain her share of testatrix' estate as an "heir" of the deceased son. Held, complainant was entitled to take the share her deceased husband would have taken if living, not through her husband's estate, but under the will of testatrix. In re Koch's Estate, 282 N. Y. 462, 27 N. E. (2d) 10 (1940).

Recommended Citation

Michigan Law Review, WILLS - CONSTRUCTION OF TECHNICAL TERMS, 39 Mich. L. Rev. 675 (1941).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol39/iss4/25