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Does Estate Residue Go to Charities or Heirs?

Does Estate Residue Go to Charities or Heirs?

Does Estate Residue Go to Charities or Heirs?

$1.5 million value of estate far exceeds specific dollar gifts of residue to charities
When Katherine Hagan wrote a will in 1994, she provided two specific bequests for friends and left the “residue” of her estate to a trust for the benefit of 13 charities. She listed specific gifts to each in separate dollar amounts totaling $40,000 and provided that if any of the organizations should not be in existence, the applicable bequest should go to the others equally. At the time she wrote the will, her residue was expected to be about $40,000. In 2001, however, a relative passed away and left her a bequest of approximately $830,000. Because Hagan was not mentally competent to modify her will or execute a new one, she died in 2005 with the same will in effect. Her residuary estate was then valued at $1.48 million.

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