In re Estate of Gaskill

Citations

• 2019 Ohio 4936

Syllabus

The testator's will does not clearly express the testator's intention to postpone the vesting of the interests in his estate to some later date. Therefore, the interest of the testator's stepdaughter, a beneficiary who survived the testator but died before his estate could be distributed, vested at the time of the testator's death. Furthermore, the testator's will does not clearly demonstrate that the testator intended for his beneficiaries to take title to the property passing under the will as survivorship tenants. As a result, the interest of the testator's stepdaughter did not vest proportionately in the remaining beneficiaries at the time of the stepdaughter's death. Thus, the trial court did not err when it concluded that the stepdaughter's heirs or devisees are entitled to receive the stepdaughter's share of the testator's estate.