In re Estate of Womack, 280 S.W.3d 317 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2008, pet. denied).
Testator’s holographic will provided for his entire estate to be
divided among his nieces and nephews, his predeceased wife’s nieces and
nephews, and one named beneficiary. A later holographic codicil removed
this named beneficiary as well as two nephews. The trial court
determined that these documents taken together resulted in a class gift
with the class containing thirteen individuals. Nephew appealed claiming
that only twelve individuals were entitled to Testator’s estate.
The appellate court affirmed. Nephew asserted that Testator’s will did
not make a class gift. The court did not find it significant that
Testator’s original will stated a total number of beneficiaries. Because
Testator did not name the nieces and nephews, other than to exclude two
of them, the gift was a class gift and not a gift to specific
individuals.
Moral: A class gift must be drafted with care to avoid an allegation
that the gift is actually one to specific individuals. Perhaps a direct
statement such as, “This is a class gift,” would be helpful.