# When last will and testament is unclear as to individuals specified **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 18, 2018, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-last-will-and-testament-is-unclear-as-to-individuals-specified/826348 "2018-12-18T23:33:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-last-will-and-testament-is-unclear-as-to-individuals-specified/826348/21 "2018-12-22T01:49:50Z")
That is a SovCit’s dream. I’m not the person Alice. I am the individual Alice and wish to create joinder with this Admiralty Court of Probate. ---
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-last-will-and-testament-is-unclear-as-to-individuals-specified/826348/22 "2018-12-22T18:34:13Z")
As others have stated, a probate judge will decide and lawyers will eat the estate. Usually when I’ve run across this, it’s due to wills being made and not updated. I recall a mildly amusing situation where a man had cancer and left his 13 year old nephew a large sum of money with the stipulation it was used for college, and the uncle got better and never updated it. Some 25 years later you he died and his nearly 40 year old nephew was left the money to go back to college, and he had an MBA by this time. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2018, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-last-will-and-testament-is-unclear-as-to-individuals-specified/826348/23 "2018-12-23T16:00:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What if he names Alice Smith, but in the time since the will was written, she’s gotten married, and is now Alice Jones? We asked this question of our attorney. We were told we just made changes like this in our letter of instructions. This is part of the will that we use to make any changes to the original will. Due to our grand daughters just getting married recently, we updated our LOI and added it to our will. > [@dorvann](#): > > Did they ask you to provide the birthdates of the recipients as well? That would definitely end any confusion as to who is intended as the recipients. No. That is not required in my state, it might in others. > [@Dewey Finn](#): > > When I was setting up the beneficiaries for my retirement account, the webform asked that I provide the Social Security numbers for my beneficiaries. So that’s another way to make clear who you’re referring to. (Although that required a slightly awkward conversation in which I had to ask for the SSNs for my brother’s children.) We set up our retirement accounts to make the executor of our will as the beneficiary of the accounts and the will designates how the executor is to distribute the funds. By setting it up this way, our heirs won’t be liable for any taxes, our estate will. Unless one of us wins a bunch of money in a lottery, there won’t be any taxes to pay, our state has a rather high limit before estate taxes kick in. If we distributed our retirement funds to each individually, this money could be considered income and would be considered taxable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-last-will-and-testament-is-unclear-as-to-individuals-specified/826348.md?page=1)