Estate of Carroll

Dortha and Archie Carroll, childless, executed separate wills each leaving their estate to the other, with the survivor's estate ultimately going to "my nieces and nephews"; Dortha's siblings had eight children, Archie's had twelve. After Dortha predeceased Archie, and Archie later died, the children of Dortha's siblings (plaintiffs) sought a share of Archie's estate, offering extrinsic evidence that the couple never distinguished between nieces/nephews by blood versus marriage, that Archie had expressed intent to benefit his wife's siblings' children too, and that the two families were close. The trial court excluded that extrinsic evidence as unnecessary given the phrase's lack of ambiguity, and held "my nieces and nephews" meant only Archie's own siblings' children; the plaintiffs appealed.