Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Wyoming
Interpretation of disbursement of assets
My mother intended her personal belongings to go to my sister and myself, and the real estate to be divided equally between us and 4 stepchildren. Does the following statement in her will mean that we can take what personal belongings we want without 'buying' or 'trading' them from the Estate - ''Executrix (being my sister) shall have full discretionary power and authority to sell, lease, mortgage or otherwise deal w any assets of my Estate in the same manner that a natural person could deal w her own assets, w/out the necessity of obtaining license or leave of any court, and may invest and reinvest the moneys or other prpty held by her, wout regard to and free from all investment restrictions, whether imposed by statute or otherwise. My Executrix may make distribution in cash or in kind or partly in each. Any powers or duties conferred upon my Executrix are also conferred upon her successor named herein.' Prior to this statement is one saying ''I devise and bequeath all my prpty and Estate of whatever nature and wherever located, as follows: The rest and residue of my Estate, in equal shares, to my children who survive me... (children being my sister, me and 4 step children). '' How should these statements in her Will be interpreted
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Interpretation of disbursement of assets
No attorney can interpret a clause in a Will without reading the entire Will. You need to provide more information here. Also, it is unclear from the heading of your question whether you are in Wyoming trying to deal with a MA Will, or are in MA trying to deal with a WY Will. The place where the Will has been filed and is being probated is the state whose laws control in this case.
Please let me know if I can help you with this matter.
Re: Interpretation of disbursement of assets
Assuming that there is personal property of nominal value, the executor might not "charge" the beneficiaries for the distribution. (We typically separate tangible personal property bequests from everything else when writing wills because of certain income tax consequences.) Otherwise, in Massachusetts, the Executor may have an obligation to charge the beneficaries based upon the Inventory value of the assets, i.e. reducing the ultimate distribution to those beneficiaries by the amount of tangible personal property received.
Each state has its own law and quirks, however...
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
