15 Guam Code Ann. § 619
Terms Used In 15 Guam Code Ann. § 619
- Bequest: Property gifted by will.
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Devise: To gift property by will.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Probate: Proving a will
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
COL120106
15 Guam Code Ann. ESTATES AND PROBATE
CH. 6 INTERPRETATION OF WILLS
(1) the common law rule of worthier title, that a testator cannot devise an interest to his own heirs; or
(2) a presumption or rule of interpretation that a testator does not intend, by a devise or bequest to his own heirs or next of kin, to transfer an interest to them. The meaning of a devise or bequest of a legal or equitable interest to a testator’s own heirs or next of kin, however designated, shall be determined by the general rules applicable to the interpretation of wills, as set forth in this Chapter. This Section shall be applied in all cases in which final judgment
has not been entered on the effective date of this Section.
SOURCE: California Probate Code, § 109.
COMMENT: The common law rule of worthier title dates back to the very old English common law. It arose at a time when wills were very much distrusted by the English courts of law, for a number of reasons which may be of historical significance but which no longer have validity in a nonfeudal system of land tenure. Although the rule has largely been abolished, by statute or court interpre- tation in virtually every American jurisdiction, it is conceivable that without a statute such as § 619, the argument might be pressed upon the courts of Guam that it should remain in effect in Guam. Although § 617, supra, makes it relatively clear that the rule does not apply in Guam, the Commission believes that Guam should follow the lead of other jurisdictions which have eliminated the rule by statute and write the rule out of Guam’s law once and for all.