Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Virginia

This is a rather strange way to write the will, at least in my opinion.

FIRST, the governing rule for the interpretation of a will is ALWAYS the INTENT of the decedent ("the Testator" who is giving the Last Will and Testament").

So the question is what did your aunt TRYING To say, what did she INTEND or want?

Standard legal rules only become important if we don't know what she wanted or was trying to say.

SECOND, every detail of the will can be considered in trying to figure this out. A lawyer ought to carefullly look through the entire will to make sure there are no other clues anywhere. I would look for langauge like "per stirpes" and "per capita."

THIRD, trying to figure out what your aunt meant is ultimately a decision that a judge might have to make. I can give you my opinon. Someone else might give a different opinon. But it might be in the eye of the beholder. If people cannot agree, then it might be up to a judge to declare what the will actually means.

FOURTH, normally the court will not consider anything outside of the "four corners" of the will (the document itself).

But I am GUESSING that your Aunt had 3 brothers and sisters:

1) Her sister, Kitt

2) The father or mother of "Jill and Bill" (cute) was your aunt's brother or sister

3) The father or morther of "Lee and Carla" was your aunt's brother or sister.

So there were 4 children: (a) Your aunt, (b) Kitt, (c) the parent of "Jill and Bill" (d) the parent of "Lee and Carla."

SO.... it appears to me that what your Aunt meant was the following:

o She leaves her money divided equally among her other 3 brotehrs and sisters.

o But at the time she wrote her will, she knew that the parent of Jill and Bill was already dead and the parent of Lee and Carla was already dead.

Therefore, it APPEARS that she was following the NORMAL RULE that would usually apply, but instead of saying it that way she said it in another way.

The way it looks to me, she was simply saying that

o Divide my estate into 3 equal shares for my borthers and sisters

o If any of my brothers or sisters die before I die, then divide his or her share among his or her children.

This is the NORMAL LEGAL RULE which is called inheritance "per stirpes" (that is, according to family lines).

The fact that it is consistent with the normal rule would help make a judge believe that this is what she meant.

THEREFORE....

Kitt (or her children) get 1/3

Jill and Bill get 1/3 -- WHICH REALLY MEANS THAT EACH GETS 1/6TH

Lee and Carla each get 1/6th, adding up to 1/3rd.

In other words, when it says Lee and Carla get 1/3rd, I interpret this as meaning that Lee and Carla DO NOT get 1/3rd together as a group or a unit.

I interpret this according to the normal legal rule of "per stirpes" inheritance that the 1/3rd share of their parent is divided equally between lee and Carla due to the death of their parent, who was your aunt's brotehr or sister.

Carla gets 1/6th which has NOTHING to do with Lee's 1/6th. These are completely separate interests.

Because Lee is dead, his next-of-kin would get 1/6th meant for Lee according to the normal rules of HIS will or intestate succession (without a will).

Note that this result would be DIFFERENT if anywhere in the will your aunt expressed a preference for "per capita" distribution instead of "per stirpes" distribution.

ALSO note that tis is very different from joint ownership. If Carla and Lee are joint owners of a bank account or real estate, then when one of them dies the toher takes 100% of it.No children involved. The children would not get anything.

But, here, in this case, because the will sounds like a standard "per stirpes" concept, I believe that Carla and Lee each get a separate 1/6th that has nothing to do with the other.

Therefore, I think that Lee's 1/6th share goes to his children if he has any.To be specific, his 1/6th share goes to his "heirs at law" whomever they may be -- wife, children, etc. For example, if Lee has no children or wife, then Carla might INHERIT Lee's 1/6th share as his next of kin.