Testamentary Right of First Refusal Was Ambiguous (Pa. Super. NP)

Decedent’s will gave her residuary estate to her two sons in equal shares, but then gave one of the sons six months within which to exercise a “right of first refusal” to take the decedent’s farm as his share of the estate at a specified value. The Orphans’ Court erred in finding the right of first refusal to be unenforceable precatory language. The Superior Court found that the language of the right of first refusal was ambiguous because it was not clear why the decedent put a value on the farm for the purpose of the distribution of the estate, and the record did not show the relationship of the value of the farm to the decedent’s entire estate. The judgment of the Orphans’ Court was therefore vacated and the case remanded so that a hearing could held to take extrinsic evidence of the decedent’s circumstances and intent. In re: Estate of Geraldine F. Altland, 867 MDA 2025 (Pa. Super. 7/17/2026) (non-precedential).

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