Court Opinion

ID: 9561420
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:09:37.807341+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:13:47.496262
License: Public Domain

DURHAM, Justice:
(Concurring and Dissenting)
I concur with Justice Howe on the motion to dismiss. I dissent on the merits.
This case depends on the legal effect of a will in which the testator specifically names his four stepchildren and purports to disinherit all those not named in the document, but fails to affirmatively and specifically dispose of any assets. In interpreting this document, we should be guided by two recurring themes in probate law: the need to follow the testator’s intent and the goal of avoiding intestacy. See, e.g., Utah Code Ann. § 75-2-603 (“The intention of the testator as expressed in his will controls the legal effect of his dispositions.”); Auerbach v. Samuels, 9 Utah 2d 261, 266, 342 P.2d 879, 882 (1959) (same); In re Estate of Gardner, 615 P.2d 1215, 1217 (Utah 1980) (courts will adopt any reasonable construction to avoid intestacy).
Contrary to the assertion of the majority, there are several indicia of the testator's intent in the instant case. The fact that the testator executed a will is evidence that he intended to die testate, Chambers v. Warren, 657 S.W.2d 3, 6 (Tex.Ct.App.1983), and that he intended those mentioned in his will as beneficiaries. The mere execution of a will, of course, is not enough to create a gift by implication. Instead, sufficient evidence must demonstrate that “the testator had a manifest and plain intent to create the gift, but ... failed to express himself as distinctly as he should have.” Seattle-First Nat’l Bank v. Tingley, 22 Wash.App. 258, 589 P.2d 811, 814 (1978) (citations omitted). Furthermore, “[t]he showing of intent must be so strong that a contrary intent cannot be supposed to have existed in the testator’s mind.” Id.; 80 Am.Jur.2d Wills § 1385 (1975). The will at issue manifests such an intent.
In the third paragraph of the will, the decedent expressly stated, “I have intentionally and with full knowledge omitted to provide for any and all of my heirs and next of kin who are not specifically mentioned herein.” The only persons the testator specifically mentioned in his will were his four stepchildren. He included no one *876else by name. Although the testator neglected to affirmatively bequeath his property to his stepchildren, the will clearly expresses by negative implication his intent to leave his property to them.
Implying a gift to the testator’s stepchildren in this case effectuates his intent and avoids disposing of his assets through intestacy. Consequently, I am persuaded that the testator’s assets should pass under the will to his four stepchildren.
■ STEWART, J., concurs in the concurring and dissenting opinion of DURHAM, J.