Application by an estate trustee seeking interpretation of survivorship clauses in a will requiring a beneficiary to survive the testator for thirty days.
The issue arose where the beneficiary died partway through the thirtieth day after the testator’s death.
The court considered the testator’s intention, the computation of time under the Rules of Civil Procedure, and the purpose of survivorship clauses in estate planning.
It held that the clause required survival for thirty full days, excluding the date of death.
Because the beneficiary died during the thirtieth day, she did not meet the survivorship requirement and the alternate beneficiary was entitled to the residue of the estate.
