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Putnam v. Putnam

Citations

  • 316 N.E.2d 729
  • 366 Mass. 261
  • 1974 Mass. LEXIS 716

How courts have described this case

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

  • on report from Probate and Family Court on statement of agreed facts, ambiguous provision in will regarding marital tax deduction resolved by reference to extrinsic evidence
  • “The fundamental object in the construction of a will is to ascertain the testator’s intention from the whole instrument . . . and to give effect to that intent unless some positive rule of law forbids”
  • considering wife’s will testator reviewed prior to drafting his own
  • “It would be a rare case in which a conflict of terms or an ambiguity in a will should be resolved by attributing to the testator an intention which as a practical matter is likely to benefit the taxing authorities and no one else.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Judges: Braucher, Quirico, Reardon, Tauro, Wilkins

Read full opinion on CourtListener

Cited by

42 cases in this archive cite this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

Cites

25 cases in this archive are cited by this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

Other cases with this name

Sourced from CourtListener / Free Law Project (CC0).

This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.