"To my oldest surviving maternal female cousin, I give and bequeath our Grandmother's dishes"

As part of her will a woman had left her Grandmother's dinnerware (that were actually quite valuable) to the Oldest Living Female Maternal Cousin. When the attorney contacted the family he found that there were fourteen living female maternal first cousins scattered across the United States. The problem came about when none of them wanted to give up their birth dates and each claimed the other was older! I was brought in to determine and prove who was the oldest. After researching and obtaining each one's birth record I was able to determine (and prove) who was the oldest.

She was not happy.

But she took the dishes!