Exordium Clause Analysis

The first important term of the Will is the first line. This sentence is called the exordium clause. This clause revokes all prior Wills, which means that this is your final Will. Because of this, you should discard any Wills that have been drafted prior to this Will. Additionally, this clause also states that you live in Illinois. Therefore, this clause informs the executor that Illinois law has jurisdiction over your Will.

The next important term is Article 1. This Article identifies your marital status, your children, and grandchildren. The purpose of Article 1 is to help your executor understand who your beneficiaries are, and it helps to clarify why you disinherited any of your heirs.

The next important part of your Will is Article 2. This section states that you would like your tangible personal property to go to your spouse if they survive you, and if not then to your children equally. Section 2.3 is important because it goes into detail of how the distribution will take place if both of you die. This section states that if a child is under the age of 25 upon both of your deaths, there share of your estate will be placed in a Child Single Trust
Article 5 applies if one of your children dies before you, and they have children. This article will set up a trust for your grandchildren. Article 6 only applies if all of your children die before you. If this were to happen, half of your property would go to your heirs, and the other half would go to your spouses’ heirs. Article 7 states who will be the executors. In this case each of you have named your spouse as the executor, but if your spouse is unable to be the executor you have named Henry Thompson as the executor. If he is not able to be the executor, you have named Rebecca Harris as the executor. If she is unable to be the executor, you have named the state bank as the executor. The remaining sections of this article explain the powers of the