## Facts

- Charles Granville Goff executed a will naming his brother Silas as executor, directing sale of all property, giving $5 to his brother George and $1,000 to Silas, and leaving the residue largely to two nephews.
- The will stated: “I am not married and have no children.”
- The will included an omnibus/no-contest-type clause: “I hereby give and bequeath to any person who might contest this will the sum of $1.00 only, in lieu of any other share or interest in my estate.”
- Granville had married a woman who was pregnant; the child, Joe Goff, was alleged to be Granville’s son, but Granville persistently denied paternity and never acknowledged Joe as his child.
- Joe had two children, Marjorie Anne Goff and Dean Joe Goff; Joe died before Granville.
- Evidence indicated Granville made statements reflecting a desire that “George and Joe’s children” not share in his property and that “Joe was not his boy.”
- The grandchildren were not named or otherwise specifically identified in the will.
- The grandchildren sued to be treated as pretermitted heirs, asserting they were lineal descendants omitted from the will without provision.

## Issues

1. Whether the testator’s minor grandchildren, omitted from the will, qualified as pretermitted heirs under Missouri’s pretermitted heir statute.
2. Whether a general clause giving $1 to “any person who might contest this will” constitutes a “provision” for omitted lineal descendants sufficient to defeat pretermitted-heir rights.
3. How the testator’s asserted lack of knowledge of the grandchildren’s existence and his denial of paternity of their father affected application of the statute.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Missouri reversed the judgment for the devisees and held the grandchildren were pretermitted heirs.
- The court held the $1 “any contestant” clause did not constitute a statutory “provision” for the omitted grandchildren.
- The cause was remanded for further proceedings consistent with recognizing the grandchildren’s statutory share as if the testator had died intestate as to them.

## Legal Principles

- Missouri’s pretermitted heir statute protects omitted children and lineal descendants of deceased children who are not provided for in the will, allowing them to take as in intestacy.
- The statute is construed liberally in favor of omitted lineal descendants where the will does not show a clear provision for them.
- A “provision” sufficient to defeat pretermitted-heir status must be a real testamentary disposition directed to the heir or a clearly defined class of heirs; a vague, non-identifying clause aimed at “any person who might contest” the will is not enough.
- A no-contest or omnibus nominal bequest that is contingent on contesting the will does not operate as an intentional provision for omitted descendants merely because they could fall within the clause’s indefinite reach.
- A testator’s lack of awareness of an omitted descendant’s existence tends to support, rather than defeat, the conclusion that the omission was unintentional and unaccompanied by a genuine provision.

## Conclusion

The court held that the testator’s generalized $1 clause for potential will contestants did not amount to providing for omitted grandchildren, so they were entitled to take as pretermitted heirs under Missouri law.


Goff v. Goff, 352 Mo. 809, 179 S.W.2d 707 (Mo. 1944)