Estate of McKenna

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• holding that testimony by the scrivener regarding his conversation with the testator was properly admitted to clarify an ambiguity in a will
• where language of testator is unimpeached, but equivocal or ambiguous, scrivener’s testimony as to testator’s intent admissible for purposes of interpretation
• where the court cannot confidently discern the testator’s intent from the will itself, the court may “inquire into the circumstances of the testator at the time of execution of his will and other evidence which bears on intent”
• where the court cannot confidently discern the testator's intent from the will itself, the court may \inquire into the circumstances of the testator at the time of execution of his will and other evidence which bears on intent\
• declarations of testator’s intent are admissible for purposes of interpretation
• “[T]he reference to all personal property would refer to all the personalty in which the decedent had an interest at the time of [her] death, whether it is tangible or intangible. Personal property in the ordinary sense includes stocks, bonds and cash.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).