In 1974, Bernhard S. Blumenthal and his soon-to-be wife, Ellin, entered into an antenuptial agreement in which Mr. Blumenthal agreed to name his wife as beneficiary of a $200,000 insurance policy. The agreement stated that '[i]f for any reason that policy is not in force and payable to Ellin at the time of Bernhard's death, Ellin shall be entitled to receive the sum of $200,000.00 from Bernhard's estate in lieu of such insurance proceeds'. Mr. Blumenthal subsequently let the premiums lapse and the policy's value fell to $38,700. Another provision in the antenuptial agreement provided that Mr. Blumenthal's gifts during his life to his children would be matched by gifts to Mrs. Blumenthal's children, a provision that Mr. Blumenthal failed to live up to.
Mr. Blumenthal died in 1998, leaving a will dated August 16, 1995. The will stated that according to the terms of the antenuptial agreement, Mrs. Blumenthal was to receive a sum of money equal to the amount by which his estate exceeded $800,000. The rest of Mr. Blumenthal's estate was to go to his two children by a previous marriage. Collecting only $38,700 on the insurance policy, Mrs. Blumenthal claimed an additional $161,300 from her husband's estate, which she said should be paid from the residue passing to Mr. Blumenthal's children.
The children denied that Mrs. Blumenthal was entitled to any monies from the estate and also took the position that any payment to her should be paid out of the gift to Mrs. Blumenthal rather than out of the residue passing to them. They asserted that their father wanted them to receive no less than $800,000 from his estate.
Mrs. Blumenthal's four children by her earlier marriage also made a claim against the estate for $354,000 based on Mr. Blumenthal's promises regarding gifts. Mr. Blumenthal's children countered that their stepmother's children had not proven their claim and were barred by the statute of limitations.
Relying on extrinsic evidence to interpret the will's terms, the orphan's court awarded Mrs. Blumenthal $161,300 from the estate, and awarded her children $354,000 and ordered that these sums be paid from the residuary estate.
The Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirms in part and reverses in part. The court affirms the award to Mrs. Blumenthal from the residuary estate. However, the court rules that the statute of limitations regarding Mr. Blumenthal's antenuptial promises to his wife's children was not tolled until his death. Consequently, claims based on gifts he made prior to 1995 are barred. The court agrees with the lower court that the amount due Mrs. Blumenthal's children is also properly deducted from the residuary estate.
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