Comma / inheritance

Subject: Comma / inheritance
From: Mark Levinson <mark -at- SD -dot- CO -dot- IL>
Date: Tue, 9 May 1995 11:00:48 IDT

>Mother bequeathed $1 million to Sarah, Joe[,] and Jane, to share
equally.<

** You hear that example a lot. I believe there was a real court
case behind it, in which the judge said he intuitively knew as
well as anyone what the deceased meant to write but had to be
guided by what was actually written. (A 50-25-25 split.)

I wish I remembered the actual phrasing of the will. I think
it appeared in the old Saturday Evening Post's "You Be the Judge"
column.

An easier example of where a comma's obviously needed:

We have four main dishes available: chicken,
spaghetti bolognese, pork and beans and franks.

(Do you get beans with pork or with franks?)

__________________________________________________________________________
||- Mark L. Levinson, mark -at- sd -dot- co -dot- il -- Box 5780, 46157 Herzlia, Israel -||
|| - Death to fanatics! - ||


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