wife

A married woman. The spouse of a man. A woman who has a husband living. Names v State, 20 Ind App 168, 50 NE 401. i As the word is used in designating a beneficiary in a will, it is descriptive of the person of a particular individual, and unless there is something in the will indicating the contrary, a gift to the wife of a designated married man is a gift to the person who was his wife at the time when the will was made and not to a wife whom he has subsequently married. See 57 Am J1st Wills § 1385. As a designation of the beneficiary of life insurance:- descriptio personae, so that the fact that one who otherwise answers the description does not, or did not at the inception of the insurance, have the legal status of wife of the insured does not prevent her from taking as beneficiary, if it is other wise clear that she is the person intended, assuming that she is eligible to designation as beneficiary and that the misdescription of her as "wife" does not amount to a breach of warranty of misrepresentation avoiding the insurance. 29A Am J Rev ed Ins § 1660.