Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...The court below construed the bequest as a specific bequest, and because the specific property bequeathed was no longer in existence, the bequest failed or adeemed. Estate of Murphy, 340 So.2d 107 (Fla. 1976); In Re Parker's Estate, 110 So.2d 498 (Fla. 1st DCA 1959); § 732.605(1), Fla....

...The trial court found that the bequest to appellant was a specific devise of decedent’s interest in the subject corporation and that because decedent owned none of the devised securities on the date of his death, the devise was adeemed by virtue of the provisions of § 732.605(l)(a), Florida Statutes (1977), which provides as follows: “(1) If the testator intended a specific devise of certain securities rather than their equivalent value, the specific devi-see is entitled only to: (a) As much of the devised se...

...Appellant McPhee, the specific beneficiary, argues that her claim of entitlement to the Bell South stock is supported by section 732.6Q5(l)(c), Florida Statutes (1985) Bah-ret, the appellee, seeks to sustain the trial court’s order by reliance on section 732.-605(l)(b). We begin our analysis by a review of section 732.605(1) in its entirety....

...901 , 33 So.2d 159 (1958); see also § 732.6005(1), Fla.Stat. (1985). The language of Mr. Bahret’s devise clearly indicates he intended that McPhee was to receive all of his shares in AT & T, including all debentures, stock dividends, and stock splits. Moreover, under section 732.605(l)(c) a specific beneficiary of certain securities is entitled to securities of another entity owned by the testator as a result of a merger, consolidation, reorganization or other similar action initiated by the entity. Admittedly, section 732.605(l)(c) does not address with particularity such a sophisticated corporate re *1321 structuring as occurred in the historic divestiture of AT & T....

...This, we think, supports the appellant’s position that it was the decedent’s intention to devise to her the economic substance of the AT & T stock. We reject the appellee’s contention that the disposition of these shares is controlled by section 732.605(l)(b), as being shares that were acquired by the exercise of purchase options....

...the testator as expressed in the will," and the "rules of construction" contained in Part VI of chapter 732 (i.e., section 732.601 ("Simultaneous *691 Death Law"), section 732.603 ("Antilapse"), section 732.604 ("Failure of testamentary provision"), section 732.605 ("Change in securities"), section 732.606 ("Nonademption of specific devises"), section 732.607 ("Exercise of power of appointment"), section 732.608 ("Construction of generic terms") and section 732.609 ("Ademption by satisfaction"))....