Cases on Wills and Testaments

Can Alan Simpson (hereinafter called “Mr. Simpson”), non-adopted resident minor, inherit from Rebecca Sweeney’s (hereinafter called “Mrs. Sweeney”) estate, decedent and former resident of California, when she died even though he was never adopted by Mrs. Sweeney legally under California law?

* This is a will contest case involving a codicil to the Last Will and Testament of Wheelock A. Bisson, M.D., deceased.

She returns to discussing the match with Francesco’s daughter and states that she likes the fact that Francesco has participated in government, even if his positions have not been important ones. This statement conveys how much of a factor status and power were when considering a spouse and the spouse’s family.

She states, “so important were these family houses to Basque villagers that each was given a name which the heir and his wife assumed”(Davis 6). Davis is portraying how property had a great importance for peasants of certain villages and how it was a major part of their lives. Davis also mentions in the case of Sanxi that he “could not have sold it easily if he had wanted to, for the Fors-that is, the customs of the Labourd-prohibited the alienation of patrimonial goods except in cases of dire necessity and then only with the consent of other interested kin” (Davis 8). Sanxi’s lack of option to sell his property, unless given approval by other family who are uninterested in the property, shows that in certain villages peasants were concerned with maintaining their property within their family. Davis also contrasts this social norm of family property with explaining the social norms when dealing with property in other villages. Sanxi moved to new village called Artigat. It is stated, “What was really different from the Basque country was the way the land moved, both in inheritance and in sales. Here in the plain below the Pyrenees there was very little effort among the common people to hold the family property together” (Davis 11). Davis is doing a successful job of portraying property as economic means but also as a way of social standing.

“On March 20, 2000, he goes to his grandmother Águeda’s house. He stands on the same porch that his mother disappeared from eleven years ago. He hugs Maria Isabel and Aunt Rosa Amelia. Then he steps off” (44).

(c) If the child is actually residing with a grandparent in a stable relationship, whether the court has awarded custody or visitation to the grandparent or not,

Despite the fact that Antonio is only a newborn, the two sides of the family have already predetermined his path in life. His mother, Maria, wants Antonio to become a priest while his father, Gabriel, would rather him be free and follow in his example. Both parents want to instill their own aspirations upon him and partake in a mentalgame of tug of war with Antonio, the youngest and last son of the family, the final chance to make one of his parent’s dreams a reality. At a young age, Antonio is forced to come to a consensus of which parent will he please and which one will he forsake. This fact lingers over him and often resurfaces within his dreams. Though he doesn’t yet have to reach a decision, this dream acts as a cautionary reminder that he will have to soon in the future as it slowly approaches.

At the age of five Enrique and his older sister Belky are left behind in Honduras when their mother Lourdes left to America. When Enrique’s mother left he was split-up from Belky who went to live with their aunt Rosa Amelia while Enrique was sent to live with their father. The separation of Enrique from his mother set in motion the path of Enrique’s life. It is not long after Enrique is left in his care that his father

(50) Her family assumes that she is happy... or perhaps they give it no thought at all. Lou and Oscar have always seen her as the provider rather than as their sister, and because they are the family who are around the most, their views have the most influence on Alexandra’s self-image, which is therefore reduced to a simple person and worker. They never, ever think of their sister as a sister and a woman– she is simply Alexandra, with all that implies in their community: namely, money and success, neither of which are thought of as particularly feminine qualities. She is Alexandra, the one “who read the papers and followed the markets, learning from the mistakes of their neighbors.” (14) Thus, when she begins to court the idea of marrying Carl, they are completely taken aback because all they can think about is that Carl might inherit the land that is “theirs.” During the conversation between Alexandra, Lou, and Oscar, Lou exclaims, “Don’t you know he’d hold of your property?... Our property, our homestead?”like Alexandra was too lost in Carl to think about the probably consequences of her decisions. Both of the brothers are flabbergasted that Alexandra would even consider getting married, especially at her age, because there is no real purpose to an older woman getting married in their eyes as no children can be produced. Alexandra has only made business deals in the past, so when

She claims that, because no evidence demonstrates that Pat discussed his children or the approximate nature of his property with the witnesses on the date he executed his will, Pat lacked the capacity to make a judgment about bequeathing his property. She asserts that Pat did not know who his children were because his will names a child whom he never adopted in a legal proceeding, and it omits an alleged sixth child. But a finding of testamentary capacity does not hinge entirely on direct evidence that the testator discussed the details of his children, wealth, or disposition at the time he signed his will. See Prather, 76 Tex. at 584-85, 13 S.W. at 545-46. The jury heard direct evidence of Pat's general mental condition on the day he executed his will and the attending months before and after: this evidence supports its determination that Pat knew that he was executing his will and that he had deliberately chosen Patricia to be his sole beneficiary. The evidence at trial “would enable reasonable and fair-minded people to reach the verdict under review.” See City of Keller, 168 S.W.3d at

To me, the irresponsible father is the first cause of Sonny’s descarrio. The second cause but in less responsibility, are Isabel’s parents, because as adults, we, should lead in the right path the younsters. At their home,

Claudia Renfro received tree farm property from her mother during the marriage, unlike Frank whose property was rewarded before his marriage. During the testimony, the chancellor determined the property is marital property. Chancellor states in her final judgement that Claudia “indicated that the development and management of the property as a tree farm was for providing income for the parties’ retirement,” which changes the once nonmarital property to marital property. The chancellor found the total value of the real and person property, and awarded each party half of the total to each party.

These personal issues could be the “real” causes of the estate dispute, which courts are ill-equipped to resolve. “What does not get heard gets louder:” this epigram perfectly describes family conflicts in relation to estates. Denial, suppression and avoidance of the personal issues work only for a while. At some point, the pain must be dealt with. And it is often dealt with in a litigious process, which, given its adversarial nature, is unlikely to satisfy the participant’s concerns and needs.

Portia does not only have the power of manipulation, she also has the desireable factor of immense wealth. When she uncovered what would happen to Antonio, Bassanio’s best friend, if he did not pay the debt he owed Shylock, she scoffed at the fact that he “merely” owed Shylock 3,000 ducats. She easily told him to double the price or even triple it to satisfy Shylock’s needs and let Antonio live (3.2.306-307). Although through marriage she gives ownership of her properties and valuables to Bassanio, she still retains the management of her

    Inbreeding is an extremely controversial topic of debate that has been around since biblical times. The most extreme form of inbreeding is incest, which is primarily between first cousins and second-first cousins.  Humans practice inbreeding for many different reasons, including royalty, religion, culture, socioeconomic class, geographic isolation, and small populations. Possibly the most dramatic instance of incest for reasons of royalty was within Habsburg Dynasty.