In re Estate of Cline

The opinion of the court was delivered by The residuary beneficiaries of a will appeal the district court's denial of their claim that the will was ambiguous and, therefore, that the doctrine of equitable apportionment required the estate and inheritance taxes to be apportioned over the entire gross estate. This case was transferred from the Court of Appeals pursuant to K.S.A. 20-3018(c). On October 4, 1992, Maria Slade Cline died testate in Kansas City, Missouri. Cline's will, which was executed in Kansas in August 1982, contains specific bequests of real and personal property and provides that the residue of her estate be distributed to her son, John May. In the event her son failed to survive her, the residue of her estate was to be distributed in equal shares to her son's widow, JoAnn May, and his two daughters, Kristina May Paquette and Karin May Walz (the residuary beneficiaries).