Davis v. Arkenberg

This is a will construction case.

A testatrix disposed of eight items of her real and personal property “to E. R. Davis Jr., Ralph Otis Davis, W. W. M. Davis, Louise Davis Yaeger and Frances Davis Talcott, who are the children of my late husband E. R. Davis. * * * ” Three of the named beneficiaries predeceased the testatrix.

Was this a testamentary disposition to individuals or was it to a class ?

If the recipients are construed as “individuals”, then under the facts of this case the gift would lapse, according to F.S.A. § 731.20, and become, by the operation of the law of descent and…