“Lawful Descendant” Excludes a Non-Marital Child
The testator’s will poured over the residue to an existing trust which in turn is divided into trusts, one for each living child of the testator and one for the descendants of any predeceased child. The will defined “children” as “lawful blood descendants in the first degree” of the parent and stated that the testator had two living children and named them. A divided Supreme Court of Georgia reversed a lower court denial of summary judgment against a woman claiming to be the testator’s non-marital child, holding that the will excluded a non-martial child by naming the testator’s children and limiting the definition of children to “lawful” descendants.