Default Rules, Not Mandatory Rules
When someone writes a will, the language does not always cover every possible situation. A beneficiary might pass away before the person who wrote the will. Property mentioned in the will might be sold before death. Stock holdings might change through mergers or reinvestment plans.
Arizona addresses these gaps with a set of rules of construction found in this article of Title 14. These rules act as a safety net, filling in the blanks when the will is silent or unclear on a particular point.
In the absence of a finding of a contrary intention, the rules of construction in this article control the construction of a will.
A.R.S. § 14-2601Why Clear Language in a Will Matters
The key phrase here is "absence of a finding of a contrary intention." If a will clearly states what should happen in a particular scenario, the court follows those instructions. The default rules step in only when the will does not address the issue or when the language is ambiguous.
This is one reason why working with experienced experienced estate planning counsel matters when drafting a will. A well-drafted will anticipates common scenarios and spells out exactly what should happen, reducing the chance that a court has to rely on default rules that may not match what the person actually wanted.
The sections that follow in this article cover specific situations: what happens when a beneficiary dies before the person who wrote the will, how securities acquired after the will was signed are handled, and what rights a specific devisee has when property is sold or damaged before death.
