Estate of Woodworth
California Court of Appeal for the Fifth District
22 Cal. Rptr. 2d 676 (1993)
Harold's testamentary trust gave his wife Mamie a life interest, with the principal passing on her death to his sister Elizabeth or, if Elizabeth predeceased Mamie, to Elizabeth's heirs at law; Elizabeth in fact predeceased Mamie, survived only by her husband Raymond, who himself later predeceased Mamie and left his estate's residue to the Regents (defendant), while a separate branch of Woodworth relatives (the Woodworth heirs) would inherit if heirs were instead determined at Mamie's later death; the probate court determined heirs as of Mamie's death, favoring the Woodworth heirs, and the Regents appealed.
Whether, where the ancestor whose heirs have a contingent substitute interest dies before the life tenant, the class of heirs is determined upon the death of the ancestor.