What happens if you forget to list something in your will, or if two people end up entitled to the same item, like a piece of jewelry? In this episode, Jill takes on two smart questions from her daughter, April, and unpacks the legal rules around tangible personal property, specific bequests, and residuary estates. Along the way, she shares practical takeaways to help you keep your family out of conflict.
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The Death Readiness Podcast
Episode: 34
Title: How Small Gaps in Your Will Become Big Problems
Host: Jill Mastroianni (Solo)
Published: September 24, 2025
Jill Mastroianni (00:00):
If you forget to list something in your Will, who gets it? And what happens if two people receive the same item, like a piece of jewelry?
In this episode, I explain how the law handles these situations—and share practical steps to help your family avoid conflict.
Welcome to the Death Readiness Podcast. This is not your dad’s estate planning podcast. I’m Jill Mastroianni, former estate attorney, current realist, and your guide to wills, trusts, probate and the conversations no one wants to have. If your Google search history includes, “Do I need a trust?” “What exactly is probate?” and “Am I supposed to do something with mom’s Will?” you’re in the right place.
(00:49) Long before my mom got sick, she told me in passing, “I have some gold jewelry—just know that some of it’s nice in case I die.” She knew I wouldn’t pay much attention to her jewelry, so she wanted me to at least recognize that some of it might be valuable.
It’s been twelve years since my mom died, and I still don’t know which pieces were the “nice ones.” After she passed, with our dad’s permission, my sister and I went through her jewelry and each took the things we wanted.
I used one of her rings as my own engagement ring—and later as my wedding ring, too. The ring is special to me because it was hers, but I’ve never been someone who likes to wear jewelry. These days, I keep it on a little ring holder on my dresser so I can see it, but I don’t wear it anymore.
The pieces my sister and I left behind are in my mom’s dresser, which now sits in the bedroom my daughter April uses when we visit my dad.
(01:42) This summer, April—now 14—started going through my mom’s jewelry drawer. And just this past weekend, she wore my mom’s earrings to her homecoming dance.
April found a way to connect with the grandmother she never met. You see, April joined our family in 2019, seven years after my mom died.
But in estate planning, jewelry can often spark conflict instead of connection. And that’s what we’re talking about today.
This week’s questions come from my daughter, April. I want to share how and when she came up with these questions, because that part matters. We were sitting around the dinner table, talking as a family about estate planning. Maybe that’s just what happens when your mom hosts The Death Readiness Podcast—and when the last Tuesday Triage question came from another family member at the table, April’s dad (and my husband), Jeremy.
But here’s what I want you to know: you don’t need to host a podcast to start these conversations. Talking about death, estate planning, or anything that feels confusing or important is something any family can do.
(02:46) I’m glad my daughter felt comfortable enough to ask out loud what didn’t make sense in her head. And she came up with 2 really good questions:
#1: If you forget to list something in your Will, who gets it? and
#2: And what happens if two people receive the same item, like a piece of jewelry?
To answer those questions, let’s look at three key parts of a will:
#1: your Bequest of Tangible Personal Property
#2: your Specific Bequests, and
#3: the Disposition of your Residuary Estate
First, let’s briefly go over what a Will actually does. For a deeper dive, I’ll link in the show notes to my video – Do you need a Will?
A will directs the distribution of your probate assets—that’s the property titled in your name alone that doesn’t pass automatically by contract. So, for example, an IRA with a beneficiary designation or a bank account with a payable-on-death designation are not probate assets and wouldn’t be governed by your will.
(03:50) Now, let’s break down a few terms that might be new to you:
Tangible personal property: These are the things you can touch and move around — jewelry, furniture, artwork, family heirlooms. Tangible personal property is often where families run into conflict, because sentimental items carry meaning beyond their dollar value.
Specific bequests: These are gifts of particular items or specific amounts of money. Think of them like sticky notes on certain items, such as, “This ring goes to Sarah.” Specific bequests should be spelled out clearly so there’s no question about who gets what. As you might imagine, that’s often not the case.
Residuary estate: This is the catch-all, the junk drawer of your estate. It’s where everything else ends up if it’s not already spoken for.
(04:43) Today, I’m going to answer April’s questions by walking through problems that can arise with distributions of tangible personal property, specific bequests, and your residuary estate. Let’s start with tangible personal property.
In a will, you’ll often see a clause that looks something like this:
Except as otherwise provided, I give all furniture, household furnishings, automobiles, personal effects, and all other items of tangible personal property that I own at the time of my death to my children to be divided in substantially equal shares as to the value thereof, in such manner as shall be practicable as to the individual items thereof, and as my children shall agree.
Ideally, the family sits down, works it out, and divides things in a way that feels fair. I said ideally, because we don’t live in an ideal world.
(05:39) Think about what falls into the category of tangible personal property: your mom’s napkin holders, her Louis Vuitton bag, and her Mercedes Benz.
So how do you divide these?
This is exactly the kind of scenario April was getting at—when more than one person is designated to receive the same thing.
If you’ve got a decent drafting attorney, the will should include a safety valve to keep the administration moving forward even if the kids can’t agree. Usually, that takes the form of a clause giving the executor authority to step in, sell the item if needed, and divide the proceeds.
It might read something like this:
“If the beneficiaries can’t agree on how to divide one or more items of tangible personal property within a reasonable time, the Executor shall either make the division or, in their sole discretion, sell the item and divide the proceeds. Any decision made by the Executor shall be final and binding on all beneficiaries.”
(06:59) In other words, someone has the final word—because otherwise, families can stay stuck for years over who gets what.
If this story has you thinking about what would happen when you’re gone, I can help you get organized and create a plan that truly reflects your goals.
My Estate Planning Support Services are designed to make the process clear and manageable. Whether you’re just getting started, reviewing your existing plan, or trying to make sense of complex legal documents, I’ll help you:
To learn more or get started, visit deathreadiness.com/services and I’ll include the link in the show notes. Together, we’ll make sure you and your family are ready for whatever comes next.
(07:53) Next, let’s look at specific bequests—those items or amounts of money that are called out one by one.
With specific bequests, the goal is to avoid the problem of giving one item to two people. But sometimes, these bequests create issues you don’t see coming.
Anytime you’re leaving something to a person—or even to an organization—you want to think about what happens if that person or organization isn’t around anymore. For example:
If you don’t account for these possibilities, you can end up with a mess.
(08:36) In Tennessee, where I practiced, there’s something called the anti-lapse statute. Absent an anti-lapse statute, if the person you’ve named in your will dies before you, their gift “lapses”—meaning it falls back into the residuary estate, the junk drawer of your estate. But the anti-lapse statute changes that outcome.
Under Tennessee Code § 32-3-105, if the person you’ve named dies before you but leaves “issue” who survive you, then those issue step into the original person’s place and receive the gift—unless your will says otherwise.
Now, I used the word “issue” because that’s the term the law uses. It’s not a word we use in everyday language, but it’s important to know when you’re talking about estate planning. In Tennessee, “issue” means all of a person’s lineal descendants—adopted as well as natural-born—across all generations.
(09:36) So how do specific bequests actually play out in practice?
Let’s take April’s question and look at an example. Say you’re writing a will and you want your diamond ring to go to your friend Bethany. You might write:
“I give my diamond ring to my friend, Bethany Jones.”
Sounds fine, right? Clear enough? Not really. That kind of bequest has a couple of problems.
Problem #1: It’s not specific enough.
What if you have two diamond rings at your death—one worth $2,000 and another worth $20,000? Which one did you mean for Bethany?
Here’s a version that’s much more specific:
“I give my platinum Art Deco diamond engagement ring, set with a 2.5-carat round brilliant-cut diamond in a square filigree mounting, with six smaller channel-set baguette diamonds on each side, to my friend, Bethany Jones.”
That description leaves no doubt about which ring you’re talking about.
But we’re still not done.
(10:40) Problem #2: What happens if Bethany dies before you?
In Tennessee, because of the anti-lapse statute, if Bethany has children who survive her, they step into her place and inherit the gift unless your will says otherwise.
So if you want that gift to end with Bethany, here’s how you’d need to write it:
“I give [insert very specific description of my diamond ring] to my friend, Bethany Jones, if she survives me. If Bethany Jones does not survive me, this gift shall lapse.”
Now, let’s say you don’t include that survivorship requirement. You simply write: “I give [specific diamond ring] to my friend, Bethany Jones.” Bethany dies before you, and she has two children, Jaymie and Josephine.
Guess what? That one ring now goes to Jaymie and Josephine.
(11:36) This is exactly what April was asking about—what happens when two people end up entitled to the same piece of jewelry.
From the executor’s perspective, the problem is that she needs signed receipts from both Jaymie and Josephine acknowledging that they received the ring. That might be easy if the siblings get along.
But if they don’t? The executor can’t split the ring in two.
In that case, the executor will likely have to ask the probate court judge for instructions.
And suddenly, you’ve got legal fees piling up over a situation where the value of the item may be far less than the cost of the fight.
Let’s move on to the Residuary Estate.
As a reminder, the residuary estate covers whatever isn’t specifically mentioned earlier in the will. Think of it as the catch-all for forgotten bank accounts, or even real property you didn’t own when you wrote your will.
(12:34) The residuary clause is what keeps those forgotten items from slipping through the cracks and defaulting to state intestacy laws.
So what are intestacy laws? They’re the rules that govern who inherits your probate assets if you don’t have a will.
In Tennessee, for example, if I’m married with more than one child, my husband gets one-third of my probate assets and my children divide the rest.
But here’s the tricky part: it’s possible to have a will and still have assets pass by intestacy—for example, if you fail to include a provision, the residuary clause, for the disposition of your residuary estate.
That’s why the residuary clause matters so much. It answers April’s first question: What happens if you forget to list something in your will? Without the residuary clause, anything you forgot to mention follows the state’s intestacy rules instead of your wishes.
(13:34) Now, you might be thinking: Do I really need a residuary clause if I’m absolutely, positively sure I don’t own—and will never own—any property beyond what I specifically listed in my will today?
Yes, you 100% do, for 2 reasons:
#1: I don’t believe you. I’ve been terrible at predicting my own future, and I’m willing to bet I’m not alone. Life has a way of surprising us.
#2: The court can’t take your word for it. There’s no way for a probate judge to know you have accurately listed all of your probate assets or you won’t acquire new assets later. So the court has to assume there are additional assets, which means your heirs-at-law, those people who would take in intestacy, get pulled into the probate process—even if you never wanted them involved.
(14:28) So let’s circle back to April’s questions.
First: What happens if you forget to list something in your will? If you have a residuary clause, that “everything else” bucket takes care of it. If you don’t, the property passes under state intestacy laws—which usually means it goes to relatives in proportions set by law, not necessarily the way you would have wanted.
Second: What happens if two people are named to receive the same item, like a piece of jewelry? Ideally, the will is drafted clearly enough to avoid that conflict. But if not, it often falls to the executor—and sometimes even the probate judge—to make the call. And that’s how legal fees, family conflict, and hurt feelings can grow into something you never imagined possible.
Clarity matters. The more precise your will is, the less room there is for confusion, conflict, or a court battle later on.
(15:26) And I love that April asked these questions, because they’re exactly the kinds of things most people wonder about but don’t say out loud.
Starting the conversation is the most important step and the best way to make sure your family finds connection instead of conflict.
If this episode has you thinking about your family and what would happen if something happened to you, I can help. My Estate Planning Support Services make the process simple and manageable. I’ll help you get organized, find the right attorney in your state, and make sure your plan is clear and ready to implement.
Learn more at deathreadiness.com/services, that’s deathreadiness.com/services
The link is in the show notes.
If you have a question you’d like me to answer on Tuesday Triage, submit it at deathreadiness.com/tuesdaytriage. That’s deathreadiness.com/tuesdaytriage. The link is in the show notes.
(16:27) This is Death Readiness, real, messy and yours to own. I’m Jill Mastroianni and I’m here to help you sort through it, especially when you don’t know where to start.
Hi, I'm April, Jill's daughter. Thanks for listening to The Death Readiness Podcast. While my mom is an attorney, she’s not your attorney. The Death Readiness Podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It does not provide legal advice. For legal guidance tailored to your unique situation, consult with a licensed attorney in your state. To learn more about the services my mom offers, visit DeathReadiness.com.