Carthen v. Jory CA3
It was always Mildred Gorman’s intent to split the assets in her trust equally between her two children, with her son William Jory (defendant and appellant with his wife Jodene Jory, collectively the Jorys) receiving her house and her daughter Linda Carthen (plaintiff and respondent) receiving an equal value from the trust. Gorman did not know how to accomplish this goal and told her attorney the children “would have to figure it out after she was gone what to do about the house.” To that end, after Gorman’s death, her children signed two “SHARE & SHARE ALIKE STATEMENT[S]” agreeing Jory would receive the house and an investment account, while Carthen would receive Gorman’s personal property, the trust account, an oil investment, and a “Promissory Note.” One statement included values of the assets to be disbursed and the total each child would receive, while the other did not.
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