223 Minn. 268 | Minn. | 1947
Edward L. Boyle, as guardian, appeals from a judgment determining that his ward, Lynn Elizabeth Davidson, will not reach the age
The decedent, Alfred Bolland Davidson, whose legal domicile was Minnesota, died in California on April 14, 1929, and left surviving him a daughter, Lynn Elizabeth Davidson, born May 26, 1926. His will, which was executed in California on March 2, 1928, devised all his property, except one dollar bequeathed to his wife, to his uncle, Stephen E. Kirby, in trust for the uses and purposes expressed in the following pertinent provisions:
“(a) To invest and re-invest all of my properties, in his discretion, during the minority of my daughter, Lynn Elizabeth Davidson;
“(b) To pay the income of my property to my daughter, Lynn Elizabeth Davidson, at convenient intervals not less than quarterly, during her minority.
*****
“(d) If my daughter, Lynn Elizabeth Davidson, should die before her majority, then the trust shall immediately cease, and the property then in the hands of the trustee shall be distributed and conveyed to the lawful issue of Lynn Elizabeth Davidson, then surviving ; and if she die without such lawful issue before reaching her majority, then the property in trust shall be conveyed and delivered to Stephen E. Kirby, personally and individually, free from any trust.
“(e) When my daughter, Lynn Elizabeth Davidson, reaches the age of majority, the entire property remaining in trust shall be distributed, delivered, and conveyed to her, and the trust shall end.” (Italics supplied.)
By his will, decedent also appointed his uncle as executor to serve without bond. A codicil executed in California on September 8,1928, provided in part as follows:
“It is my wish and desire that all my money, property and belongings known as my estate be left in trust for my daughter Lynn after certain deductions are made as named below. Under no circumstances will Dr. Eood or any member of his family or no relation of his, be appointed trustee of my estate.
*271 “I want my uncle, Mr. S. R. Kirby of Duluth, Minnesota, be appointed trustee of my estate during his lifetime and he is to name his own successor as trustee.”
At the time of the execution of both the will and the codicil, G-. S. 1923, § 8706, provided that a female attained her majority at the age of 18 years. Subsequent to decedent’s death but prior to the entry of the final decree in the estate and prior to the date when the daughter reached the age of 18 years, § 8706 was amended by L. 1937, c. 485, § 24, to provide that all persons, including females, should remain minors until they should reach the age of 21 years. See, Minn. St. 1945, § 525.80.
On May 2,1945, Boyle, who in 1944 had been appointed the daughter’s guardian, petitioned the court to adjudge the daughter to have reached her majority under her father’s will as of May 26, 1944, and further to order the trustee to file a final account and deliver and convey to Boyle, in his capacity as such guardian, all the assets of the trust estate created by the will, and further to order that said trust be thereupon terminated. The trial court found and adjudged that the daughter did not, when she was 18 years old, reach the age of majority within the intent of her father’s will; that she would not reach such majority until the age of 21 years; and that until she reached such latter age she was not entitled to a distribution of the assets of the trust estate and a termination of the trust.
In his will the testator used the term “majority” three times and its antonym, “minority,” twice. Before proceeding to a determination of testator’s intent, it is obviously desirable to clarify the meaning and nature of these terms. One is a counterpart of the other. It is elementary that a person who has reached his majority has thereby arrived at the status or condition of full age whereby he is entitled, at law, to the management of his own affairs and to the enjoyment of civic rights.
Obviously, the will was drafted by a lawyer or other person skilled in the use and meaning of legal terminology. In the light of this significant fact (In re Estate of Boutelle, 218 Minn. 158, 15 N. W. [2d] 506, 154 A. L. R. 966) and in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, it is to be presumed that the testator, in using such technical words as “majority” and “minority,” which have a definite and long-accepted meaning, used them correctly and with the intent that they be interpreted in conformity with law. In re Trust Under Will of Holden, 207 Minn. 211, 291 N. W. 104.
Plaintiff seeks comfort in various rules of construction, such as that a testator favors his own kin; that where the language is ambiguous and subject to more than one construction the first taker is to be regarded as the primary object of the testator’s bounty; and that the language of the will must be construed with reference to the statutory law existing when the will was drawn. Whatever merit these rules may have in their proper place, it is elementary that when the language of a will is free from reasonable doubt there is obviously no room for construction or interpretation. In re Trusteeship Created Under Last Will of Ordean, 195 Minn. 120, 261 N. W. 706. Taking into consideration the surrounding circumstances, we must hold that testator’s language is free from ambiguity and expresses a manifest intent. We are not confronted with ambiguity. In the construction of a will, the end sought is the intent of the testator. Recognized rules of construction are not to be overlooked where their aid is necessary, but they are not technical guides which will be followed to a result contrary to the intent derived from a reading of the will as a whole. In re Estate of Freeman, 151 Minn. 446, 187 N. W. 411. Rules of construction have little weight where it is obvious the testator had an intent, which though imperfectly expressed, may be determined from the will as a whole in the light of the surrounding circumstances. 6 Dunnell, Dig. & Supp. § 10257.
*276 “It is true, also, that laws affecting the status of individuals sometimes materially affect their personal privileges. It was so in this instance. The amendatory statute subjected the daughter to parental control for three years longer than she would otherwise have been subjected. By it her right to manage, control and convey her property, her right to her personal earnings, her right of personal freedom, and many other rights which could be enumerated as belonging to persons of full age, were postponed for a like period. But this, as we say, does not argue against the validity of the law. The condition being a status, it was one which the legislature had the right to impose.” (Italics supplied.)7
The judgment is affirmed.
Affirmed.
See, M. S. A. § 525.80, and cf. Mason St. 1940 Supp. § 8992-185.
38 C. J., Majority, p. 339; Bouvier, Law Dictionary (3 Rev.) pp. 2065 and 162; Black, Law Dictionary (3 ed.), p. 1145.
gee, also, In re Estate of Chase, 182 Minn. 271, 275, 234 N. W. 294, 295;
In re Estate of Youmans, 218 Minn. 172, 178, 15 N. W. (2d) 537, 540, 154 A. L. R. 1171; State ex rel. Larson v. Larson, 190 Minn. 489, 252 N. W. 329; 1 Dunnell, Dig. & Supp. § 1556a; 3 Dunnell, Dig. & Supp. § 4433b; 21 Minn. L. Rev. 891; 43 C. J. S., Infants, § 20; 11 Am. Jur., Conflict of Laws, §§ 25 and 16.
Springstun v. Springstun, 131 Wash. 109, 229 P. 14, 40 A. L. R. 595; Young v. Sterling Leather Works, 91 N. J. L. 289, 102 A. 395; Coleman v. Coleman, 51 Ohio App. 221, 200 N. E. 197; Pickering v. Peskind, 43 Ohio App. 401, 183 N. E. 301; 27 Am. Jur., Infants, § 5; 43 C. J. S., Infants, § 19; Wilson v. Greer, 50 Okl. 387, 151 P. 629.
Although the issue is not involved in the instant case, it is helpful to an understanding of the nature of status to observe that amendatory legislation postponing the age of majority has been held not retroactive so as to affect preexisting substantive rights arising under a majority status which had come to fruition before the amendatory act took effect. See, Springstun v. Springstun, 131 Wash. 109, 229 P. 14, 40 A. L. R. 595, with annotation at 598; Pickering v. Peskind, 43 Ohio App. 401, 183 N. E. 301; State ex rel. Brown v. Lyons, 104 Kan. 702, 180 P. 802; Smith v. Smith, 104 Kan. 629, 180 P. 231; Nahorski v. St. Louis Elec. Terminal Ry. Co. 310 Mo. 227, 274 S. W. 1025; 27 Am. Jur., Infants, § 5; see, Wilson v. Greer, 50 Okl. 387, 151 P. 629.