- 3 -
Decedent was a retired engineer who had spent most of his
professional career working for the water department of the City
of Portland. He had some responsibility for the design of the
present Portland water system. Mrs. Chamberlain had been a high
school language teacher. Although the Chamberlains were not
employed in highly paid positions, they lived frugally, saved,
and invested. As a result, they accumulated estates sufficient
to justify estate planning.
In 1987, decedent and Mrs. Chamberlain hired the Portland
law firm of Meyer & Wyse to handle their estate planning and to
address their concerns about estate taxes. Roger Meyer and
Joshua Kadish, both partners at Meyer & Wyse, worked on the
planning and administration of the Chamberlains' estates, and the
firm of Meyer & Wyse was the principal legal counsel for both
estates. Mr. Meyer, the firm's senior partner, had known the
Chamberlains for many years and used to be their next-door
neighbor.
In broad outline, the estate plans of decedent and Mrs.
Chamberlain were simple and consistent. Each wished the other to
receive all or the bulk of his or her estate, and that, after
both their deaths, Dale would inherit their property.
On January 14, 1988, Mr. Kadish wrote to decedent and Mrs.
Chamberlain and explained the use of disclaimers as follows:
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011