The importance of clear verbiage in a will or a trust cannot be overstated to residents in Wisconsin. Even the slightest opportunity for interpretation may provide fuel for a person’s estate plan to be contested by heirs or potential heirs. An example of this can be seen in the case of a woman in New York who is currently embroiled in a battle to receive what she asserts should be her inheritance based on the relationship her mother had with another woman.

The plaintiff’s mother was involved in an 18-year relationship with another woman that ended in 2016 when both of the women died. The plaintiff’s mother died 12 days after her partner. The partner had created a will roughly three months before her death, which was due to a battle with cancer. The New York Daily News indicates that the partner included a provision in her will for specific items to be given to the plaintiff’s mother so long as that woman lived at least 30 days after the partner died.

Because the second woman did not live 30 or more days after her partner, the items have been slated to go to a few different charities. These were the terms of the will. However, the will was written such that two of the items were incorrectly described as tangible personal property when instead they were real property. This is apparently only one of a few errors in the will.

If the plaintiff’s mother had inherited the items, the plaintiff would then have inherited all of them after her mother died. This is what she is asserting should happen.