Estate of Espitallier

Citations

• 6 Coffey 299

Syllabus

<p>Will—Instrument Drawn by Layman—Interpretation.—A will drawn by a person not educated in the ordinary sense, nor skilled in the use of legal formulae, is not to be treated with the strictness that is applied to the work of a professional draftsman.</p> <p>Will—Disposition of Entire Estate—Presumption.—A will, as such, raises the presumption that its maker intends to dispose of his or her entire estate, and not to die intestate as to a part; and the presumption is strengthened by the absence of a residuary clause.</p> <p>Will—Omission of Word—Whether Invalidates.—The inadvertent omission of a word will not be allowed to defeat a will if the intention of the testator can be discovered from the entire document, and a reasonable reading of its text, and a consideration of all the circumstances.</p> <p>Will—Interpretation—Supplying or Changing Words.—In the construction of wills the intention of the testator must govern, and in order to carry out this, as collected from the context, words may be, when necessary, supplied, transferred or changed.</p> <p>Will—Dollar-Mark Before Legacy—Omission.—The omission of the dollar-mark before the figures of a legacy is frequent in wills, and is implied by courts construing them.</p> <p>Will—Instrument in French Language—Kind of Money Bequeathed. If, in a will in the French language, there is an absence of express words or signs indicating the sort of money to which numerical figures used have reference, in respect of legacies, the word “dollars” or “francs” may be read into the will according to the aptness, of either in the opinion of the court, judging from the connection and the circumstances.</p>