Barcal

*250 Opinion

These are cross-appeals challenging the incongruous result that two inter vivos gifts by a testator, George Lackey, to two of his predeceased wife’s cousins in the amounts of their legacies had different legal consequences. As regards Mrs. Maurine Barcal the trial court found that her legacy of $20,000 in George Lackey’s will was adeemed by the lifetime gift to her of this amount. As regards Mrs. Patricia Carson, the court found that the lifetime gift to her of $10,000, the amount of her legacy in George Lackey’s will, did not have this effect. This result occurred because the court concluded that as regards Mrs. Barcal the requirements of Probate Code section 1050 for an ademption had been met, but that with respect to Mrs. Carson they had not.

Background

On August 14, 1956, George and Lavina Lackey, husband and wife, made reciprocal wills under which the estate of each was left to the other. In the event the spouses died about the same time or in the event the spouse, who would have received the estate of the other, predeceased the other, each will provided for general legacies in various amounts to certain specified relatives of the spouses and residual devises…