Opinion ID: 1940364
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: As of what date are the intestate heirs to be ascertained?

Text: The general rule is that if a will designates the heirs or next of kin as beneficiaries they are to be ascertained as of the time of the testator's death. Especially is this so if the will directs that the property shall descend according to the intestate laws. 3 Page on Wills (3d Ed.), § 1054. In Delaware Trust Co. v. Delaware Trust Co., 33 Del.Ch. 135, 139, 91 A.2d 44, 46, 38 A.L.R.2d 318, Vice Chancellor Bramhall said: The law in this state and elsewhere is clear that in the absence of a clear and unambiguous indication of an intention to the contrary the heirs-at-law will be determined as of the date of the death of the ancestor and not at the time of the death of the last life tenant or of the time of distribution. Doe ex dem. Wright v. Gooden, 6 Houst. 397, 419; Mason v. Baily, 6 Del.Ch. 129, 14 A. 309; In re Nelson's Estate, 9 Del.Ch. 1, 74 A. 851; In re Estate of Smith, 16 Del.Ch. 272, 145 A. 671; Magee, Adm'r v. Chambers, 17 Del.Ch. 45, 147 A. 306; Hearn v. Hastings, 17 Del.Ch. 229, 152 A. 129; Delaware County Trust Company v. Hanby, 19 Del.Ch. 228, 165 A. 568; Wilmington Trust Co. v. Morris, 30 Del.Ch. 144, 54 A.2d 851. The cited cases fully sustain this statement. As appears from that case, an exception to the general rule exists if a contrary intention may be found in the will. Sometimes an incongruity may be found in tracing the line of descent through the same persons whose remainder interests under the will have failed. In the Delaware Trust Company case, above cited, such a situation, together with other facts, was deemed sufficient to justify an inference that the testator intended the heirs to be determined as of the date of death of the life tenant. But no such inference may be drawn in this case. It is perfectly clear that the main object of the testator's bounty was his friend, Janet Miller  not his blood relatives. The persons named in Paragraph 7 were his next of kin, yet he did not give any of them a vested interest in his property. The inheritance of each was entirely dependent on outliving the life tenant. And if any of them contested the will, he or she was to take nothing. Finally, if none of them outlived the life tenant, the property was not to go to other named relatives or to relatives living at the time of the death of the life tenant, but was to descend according to the intestate laws. In effect, the testator said: If these named relatives are all dead when Janet Miller dies, let the law take its course. As was held by Justice Harrington in Burton v. Burton, 4 Har. 38, 43, the testator's purpose was to leave [the property] precisely as if he had made no will. Certainly, in cases of intestacy the persons entitled must be ascertained as of the time of the testator's death. We agree with the Chancellor's conclusion on this point.