Surrogate Nora Anderson
Petitioner, decedent's widow, sought construction of a will, seeking to establish that decedent intended to give testamentary benefits to one of their grandsons, Noah, despite express testamentary provisions indicating otherwise. She acknowledged testator eliminated a $10,000 bequest to Noah originally contained in the will, explaining decedent was angered by what he perceived as Noah's neglect. Yet, petitioner claimed decedent intended to leave intact Noah's other interests under the will as previously executed. The court stated while the current petition was styled as an application for construction, it stated there was no need to construe a provision that presented no ambiguity. It found the language at issue expressed decedent's unequivocal intention not to leave Noah any testamentary benefit, thus the court could not refer to extrinsic evidence to contradict same. The court also said it could not rewrite a will under the guise of construing it, even at the behest of others having a stake in the outcome, as a testator's intent was paramount. Further, as testator clearly expressed his intent that Noah's revoked dispositions devolve upon decedent's other two grandchildren in equal shares, petitioner's application was denied.
