Levin v. Fisch
Texas Court of Appeals
404 S.W.2d 889 (1966)
Bertha Cohen's will left the residue of her estate to her children, Suzanne Cohen Levin and Jay Cohen, and separately expressed her "desire" that they pay $2,400 a year from the estate's revenues to her sister, Laura Fisch (plaintiff), for the rest of Laura's life or until she remarried. Bertha had substantial assets while Laura had very little, and Bertha's children had recently inherited a large sum from their father; in the years before her death, Bertha regularly made monthly payments and gifts to Laura and her daughter. After Bertha died, Laura sued Bertha's children (defendants), the will's executors, claiming an interest in the estate; the trial court granted Laura summary judgment, and the children appealed, arguing "it is my desire" created no binding obligation.
Whether precatory language in a will is treated as mandatory if the will as a whole and the surrounding circumstances show the testator intended the language to be mandatory.