Also known as: general devise · general devising
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A testamentary disposition usually of a specified amount of money or quantity of property that is payable from the general assets of the estate. Classification turns on whether the will identifies a particular asset or instead directs payment from the estate as a whole without limitation to any specific fund.
Gabriella Gomez's will left $500,000 to her niece Genevieve Gardner with no designated source. At death the estate held cash and other assets but no particular fund tied to the gift. The personal representative paid the sum from general estate assets because the devise qualified as general rather than specific or demonstrative.
Gavin Grant's will directed delivery of 1,000 shares of a named corporation to his brother Gino Giordano. The estate never owned those shares. The executor purchased the shares on the open market and delivered them because the devise was general and therefore payable from any estate assets.
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A general devise directs payment of a sum or quantity from the estate as a whole. A specific devise instead transfers a particular identified asset. The distinction controls whether ademption applies and the order of abatement.
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General devises abate after residuary devises but before specific devises when assets are insufficient to satisfy all gifts and claims. Demonstrative devises are treated as specific to the extent a designated source is available and general to the extent it is not.
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General devises of securities do not carry post-death stock splits or dividends. They instead bear interest if unpaid after a set period following death.
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Language directing payment from any source or without naming a primary fund produces a general devise. Naming a preferred account while allowing fallback to general assets produces a demonstrative devise.
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