Matter of Scale

Frederick Scale executed a will that, among other things, devised 10 percent of his residuary estate to the World Wildlife Fund and another 10 percent to the Audubon Society of New York State. After Scale’s death, two Audubon organizations claimed to be the intended beneficiary of Scale’s will. The first organization was the Audubon Society of New York State, Inc. (state organization) (defendant), which was a state organization. The second was the National Audubon Society, Inc. (national organization) (defendant), which was a national organization that did business as Audubon New York. The executor of Scale’s estate, Jane Mance (plaintiff), petitioned the surrogate court, seeking a determination regarding the proper interpretation of Scale’s will. The surrogate court concluded that there was a latent ambiguity in the will’s language, meaning that although the language was unambiguous on its face, it was nevertheless ambiguous in context. Specifically, the court found there was a latent ambiguity because many bird-focused charities used the phrase Audubon Society, creating public confusion. The surrogate court admitted extrinsic evidence, or evidence from outside the will, to help determine Scale’s intent. Specifically, the court considered evidence from the will’s drafter stating that although Scale quickly and confidently named the state organization as the intended beneficiary at drafting, Scale was confused and intended to benefit the national organization. Based on that evidence, the surrogate court held that the national organization was Scale’s intended beneficiary. The state organization appealed.