15 W. Va. 732 | W. Va. | 1879
delivered the opinion of the Court:
The first question presented by this record is : Did the will of Luke "Wilcox, as interpreted by the circuit court of Kanawha county by the decree of November 29, 1856,
Nevertheless the appellant’s counsel insists that this decree ought not to be so interpreted; and that the words in the decree, “ below Lens creek,” apply as a description of the portion of the land conveyed by Madison Morris, which the executor was to sell, as well as to the lands conveyed by Hewitt. He urges, “that the punctuation and grammatical construction of this sentence in the decree construing this will shows clearly, that it was the intention of the court that the words ‘ below Lens creek’ should refer equally to the Madison Morris lands, as well as the Hewitt lands. In other words, Lens creek was made the dividing line between the land devised to his daughter and the land devised to be sold. If this was not the case, there would be no necessity for the comma after Hewitt; there would be no break in the sentence; so far as the Hewitt lands are concerned it would be continuous; but the sentence is broken up into
The appellant’s counsel at length insists that this is the true meaning of this decree, and endeavors to show it from the pleadings in this suit, which have been given in the statement of the case. I think he fails to show that the pleadings would tend to such conclusion ; but I need not follow him in this argument; for the words of this decree, in my judgment, are so clear that it needs no enquiry to find out their meaning; and their plain and obvious meaning could not be controlled in this manner. The words, and also, separating the portions of the decree referring to the Madison Morris lands and the portions of the deeree referring to the Hewitt land, makes the .construction asked by appellant’s counsel impossible. With these words so inserted it is impossible to refer the the concluding words “below Lens creek” to any but the Hewitt lands. The will too is equally explicit on this point. It too separates the direction to sell the Madison Morris lands and the direction to sell the Hewitt lands by the words “ and they shall also sell.”
But even if this decree could be so interpreted as to make the words “below Lens creek” refer also to the Madison Morris land, still the interest in this three hundred and twelve acre tract would be thereby included as land to be sold; for this three hundred and twelve acre tract lies “below Lens creek” in the true meaning of the words “Lens creek” as used in this decree. The map and evidence show that it. lies between the two forks of Lens creek “below the left hand fork” and “above the right hand fork.” Now though the right hand fork is somewhat larger than the left hand fork, I presume, it being a mile or two longer, yet by this deeree the left hand fork is clearly what is considered Lens creek, and not the right hand fork, as the .clause in the will the court was construing says expressly, “below the left
The next enquiry is : Did the administrator de bonis
The language of the advertisement was “The undersigned will sell at public auction on Monday the 16th of November, 1857, on the premises, the salt property lately owned and occupied by Luke Wilcox, deceased, in Kanawha county, Virginia, below Lens creek, being the same property which was formerly conveyed by Madison Morris to said Wilcox.” Now it is true that this conveyance of Madison Morris to Luke Wilcox did convey this interest in this three hundred and twelve acres, but it had been assigned to him but a short time before his death, and had never been, 'so far as the record shows, occupied by him. It lies between the forks of Lens creek, and is some four miles distant from the other
Did the sale made by C. Hedrick, administrator de bonis non of Luke Wilcox, on October 3, 1865, include this interest in this three hundred and twelve acres, or was it to be confined to this Brownstown property, which had been previously sold by the executor, but which sale had never been perfected ? He says in his answer that he was appointed administrator de bonis non with the will annexed of Luke Wilcox in 1863, “and this appointment was for the purpose chiefly, if not altogether, of getting a sale of the land, directed by the will to be sold to pay said legacy; that the estate of said Luke Wilcox, deceased, was then well nigh wound up arid administered with the exception of the completion of the sale of the real estate.” He probably therefore knew but little about the estate. He was one of the appraisers in 1857 of “the lands directed to be sold by the will of Luke Wilcox, deceased.” The administrator had shown him but the two parcels of land near Brownstown adjoining each other, and known as the salt property, as the land to be sold, and he as one of the appraisers did then appraise this Brownstown property, and the report which he signed purports to be an appraisement of the lands directed to be sold by the will of Luke Wilcox. It is therefore highly probable, that when he sold on October 3, 1865, he did not even
The next enquiry is: Ought the court below to have set aside this sale for the gross inadequacy of price ? The .property sold for $4,710.00. The witnesses estimate this property to be worth then about twice that amount; but less confidence is to be placed in these estimates, because of the peculiar difficulties of estimating the then value of this property. One witness estimates it to be worth seven times as much as another, but these two estimates must be regarded as made by parties wanting in sound judgment, or under undue bias; but even among the witnesses, who were apparently unprejudiced and equally competent, there is a very great difference in their estimates, arising out of the intrinsic difficulty of valuing the property. This alone apparently caused some estimates to be double that of others. Under these circumstances we cannot attach as much importance to these estimates, as we would ordinarily attach to the estimates of witnesses. As tending to show that the average estimates of the witnesses of good judgment were too high? we must remember that the former executor tried for several years to sell this property and exerted himself in good faith to get the highest price therefor, and never had more than $4,600.00 offered for it, and that the party who made this offer at a public sale did not, as his con-
There is no evidence or circumstance in this case from which it could be inferred, that in accepting the prices which they did for this property either the executor or afterwards the administrator were guilty of any bad faith or breach of the trust conferred on them, or that they did not act in good faith and according to their best judgment as to the interest of those to whom the proceeds of such sale were to be paid. The testator had been dead, when the last sale was made, more than eleven years. The legatee who was to be paid first out of the sale of this land had been paid no part of his legaey, and though a large discretion had been given the executor by the will as to the time of the sale and to the terms of ci’edit on which this land might be sold extending, if the executors thought proper, to five years, it was still the duty of the
The courts generally regard, as the the value of a thing, the price it will bring. Value admits of no precise standard. This rule is especially applicable to publie sales. When there are no ingredients in a case of suspicious character, and no peculiar relation of parties, mere inadequacy of price will not be considered by a court as any reason for setting aside a sale, unless where the inadequacy of price is so gross as of itself to prove fraud.
But the case would have to be very sti’ong to justify the court in holding a purchaser at a public auction, between whom and the vendor there had been no previous communication affecting the fairness of the sale, as chargeable with fraud, merely because the property has been knocked down to him at a small price. To set aside a sale for inadequacy of price under such circumstances the inequality must be so gross, that the mere stating of it must shock the conscience of a man of common sense and afford evidence of fraud. Gwynne v. Heaton, 1 Bro. C. C. 1; Osgood v. Franklin, 2 Johns. Ch. 23. And
There being in the circumstances surrounding this case nothing to excite a suspicion of fraud or bad faith on the part of the administrator who made the sale, the inadequacy of the price is not such as to justify a conclusion that he, or the purchaser, acted in bad faith or fraudulently. And without this all the authorities hold that mere inadequacy of price will not be a ground for setting aside a sale or contract. In this case the only ground claimed for assailing this sale is the inadequacy of the*price.
It only remains to consider, whether the legacy of
It is unquestionably true, that as a general rule a legacy payable at a future day does not bear interest except from the time it is payable; and the exceptions to this rule are cases which bear no resemblance to the case under our consideration. Most of the authorities referred to by the appellant sustain this position, and really decide nothing more than this, which has any bearing on the question under discussion. See Ballantyne v. Turner, 6 Jones Eq. 225; Lupton v. Lupton, 2 Johns. Ch. 228; Van Bramer v. The Ex’r of Hoffman, 2 Johns. Cases 200; Kerr v. Bosler, 62 Pa. St. (12 P. F. Smith) 183; Page’s Appeal, 71 Pa. St. (21 P. F. Smith) 402; Dewert’s Appeal, 70 Pa. St. (20 P. F. Smith) 403; Dawes v. Swan et al., 4 Mass. 208; Smith v. Moore, 25 Vt. 127; Magoffin’s adm’r v. Patton et al., 4 Serg. & R. 119; Heorle v. Greenbank, 3 Atk. 716; Stephenson v. Axon & Mitchell, 1 Bailey 278. I have examined all these cases, because relied on in argument by appellant’s counsel; but they only decide a proposition which is elementary, that as a general rule a legacy will not bear interest till it is payable. Many of them contain discussions as to what are the exceptions to this general rule; but it is obvious that these exceptions have no existence in circumstances such as are presented in this case; and the only question is: Was the legacy in this case by this will really payable at a future day ? If it was, it can not bear interest except from that time. On the other hand, if it was not payable at a future time, then it will bear interest from twelve months after the testator’s death. That proposition is as unquestionable as the other, and is admitted in many of the esses above referred to. If a testator simply bequeath a legacy to be paid to a legatee, and is silent as to when it is to be paid, all the
Nor will the right of the legatee to demand this interest be changed by the fact that a particular fund, as the proceeds of the sale of land or of particular personal property, being directed by the will to be applied to the payment of the legacy, as is shown by the last cited case and others. The legacy is then called a demonstrative legacy ; and the legatee has a right to have the particular fund applied to the payment of his legacy, though their be no estate applicable to the payment of other legacies. While, if the fund should for any reason prove unavailing, he is still on the footing of other legatees, and may claim his legacy out of the general personal estate in common with other legatees who are general. See Gallaher v. Gallaher, 6 Watts 473; Cogdell v. Widow, 3 Desau. 372; Wilcox v. Rhodes, 2 Russ. 452 (8 Cond. E. Chy. 194); Coleman v. Coleman, 2 Ves. Jr.; Roberts v. Pocock, 4 Ves. 150; Fowler v. Willoughby, 2 Sim. & St. 354, (1 Cond. E. Ch. 473); Ashburn v. Maguir, and Cartwright v. Cartwrignt, 2 Bro. C. C. 114. When the legacy is demonstative, that is, when the legacy is given with a demonstration of the particular fund as the source
The real difficulty is, to determine in some cases whether a legaey is a demonstrative legacy, that is agen-eral legacy with a demonstration of the fund out of which for convenience it is to be paid, or a specific legacy. When the gift is so connected with the debt or security out of which it is to be paid that the gift of the legacy and of the debt or security are really the same, and when the intention is to give nothing more than the identical debt, or money due on the security, the legacy is not demonstrative, but is specific. In such cases of course the legatee cannot claim his legacies till the debt or security is realized. The courts however incline against construing a legacy as not demonstrative. One of the cases cited by appellant’s counsel was of this description. In Finche et al v. Finche et al, 53 N. Y. 528, where a testator devised his real estate on trust to be sold and the proceeds divided among his grandchildren, and by a codicil he provided in case the proceeds do not amount to $30,000.00, there should be added to the proceeds out of his estate sufficient to make up that sum. This was regarded as a specific bequest to the extent of the value of the land, and a general bequest of enough to make up the $30,000.00; but this general legacy was not to be paid till the deficiencj- was known by a sale of the land; and being only payable then, the legatees were entitled to receive the income of the land till the
Thus in Lord v. Lord, 2 Ch. App. Cas. 782, a testatrix having a general power of appointment over property, which was the subject of a pending litigation, gave it by her will to J. L. upon trust: “So soon as the proceedings in law and equity should be terminated, and the same should come into his possession, that, then he should assign certain stock ; secondly, to pay to each of her brothers and sisters £2,000.” It was decided that the trust to pay the legacies did not arise, and consequently the legacies did not carry interest till the litigation ended and the property came into the hands of the trustee, which was more than eighteen years after the testator died. The counsel in that case on the one side contended, that by the construction of this will the legacies were payable immediately, though out of a fund not capable of realization immediately. They contended that it was a case where the payment was postponed only for the convenience of the estate. On the other side it was contended, that this was a gift out of a fund when realized. A gift in future, not a present legacy; and as interest on a legacy payable in future only runs from the time‘it was payable, that interest could not be demanded till the fund was realized. And this last view was approved by the court, who approved the case of Wood v. Penoyre, 13 Ves. 325; but the court thought this case was distinguishable from it.
In that case the testator “gave £2,500 to be paid out of the money due on the Irish mortgage, when the same shall be recovered.” The court decided that the legacy bore interest from a year after the testator’s death. Sir William Grant, the master of the rolls, says: “My first
“Whenever legacies are given out of outstanding securities, those legacies cannot be . actually paid until the money due on such securities is actually got in; but by a rule which lias been adopted for the sake of general convenience, this Court holds the personal estate to be reduced into possession within a year after the death of the testator. Upon that ground interest is payable upon legacies from that time, unless some other period is fixed by the will. Actual payment may in many instances be impracticable within that time; yet in legal contempla-' lion the right to payment exists, and carries with it the right to interest until actual payment. In the case of Entwistle v. Markland, and Sitwell v. Bernard, 6 Ves. 520, it was determined that the reference by the testator to the time at which his personal estate should be got in, does not without the most plain and distinct indication of his intention, affect the legal presumption that the personal estate may be got in within a year from the testator’s death.” And again : “I cannot without neglecting the authority of these cases hold, that the mortgage, though not actually capable of being called in, is not to be understood as having been got in within the year. Constructive receipt is held equivalent to actual receipt for the purpose of the right to interest. See Hambling v. Lyster, 1 Amb. 401.”
The eases of Laporte v. Bishop, 11 Harris (23 Pa. St.) 152; Roberts et al v. Malin et al, 5 Ind. 18; Page &c. v. Miller’s devisee, 2 Duval 168 were cases in which there were contests about when legacies were payable and therefore from what time they bore interest; but neither they
Upon the authorities I have cited it seems to me clear that this legacy of $3,000.00 to John G. Bruce bears interest from one year after the testator’s death. On the face of the will it is a present gift to him : “I bequeath to John G. Bruce $3,000.00 to be paid out of the land sales.” It does not even say, to be paid when the proceeds of the sale of lands are realized; .and if it had, it would perhaps under the authorities not have prevented the interest from running under the provisions of this will. As the will is worded it seems to me there can be no doubt. The fact that the testator for the convenience of his children, who were to get the balance of this land fund, authorized his executors to sell the land at whatever time they deemed best, and authorized them, if they chose, to give long credits upon it, it seems to me, on the authorities I have quoted, to have no weight in preventing the legacy from carrying interest from one year .after the testator’s death, as legacies generally do; for these provisions certainly did not necessarily prevent the executor from selling the lands, and realizing the funds, within the year. There-was no legal impossibility in its being done; and for the purposes of charging interest on the legacy the law assumes it to be done. In many cases the testator from the situation of his estate'must know, that legacies cannot possibly be paid in a year from his death. Yet they are all legally due then and will bear interest from that time, unless the testator has expressly, or by clear indications, in his will shown that they were not to be paid until some later period.
Throughout the progress of this case it is assumed that the defendant, John McConihay, is the assignee of this legacy of $3,000.00 to John G. Bruce. But there is no proof that it ever was assigned to him, and does not still belong to Bruce. He, or his personal representative, must be made a party to this suit; and if it should turn
I conclude therefore that the decree of the circuit •court ot November 16, 1875, must be reversed and annulled; the appellant, Amelia W. Bradford, must remover of the appellee, John McConihay, her costs about her appeal in this Court expended ; and the cause must be remanded to the circuit court to be further proceeded with according to the principles laid down in this opinion and further according to the rules governing courts of equity; and that in so proceeding the bill should be dismissed as to the infant children of Amelia W. Bradford, they having no interest in the subject of controversy, but "that it should be sustained as to the plaintiff, Amelia W. Bradford, as she has rights which should be protected and enforced in this suit, she being entitled to one-fourth of the surplus of the sale of lands made and to be made under the will of her father, Luke Wilcox, after the payment of the legacy to John G. Bruce ; and she should be permitted and required under the penalty of a dismissal of her bill to amend the same in a reasonable time, but without prejudice to any other party to this suit or interested in the estate of Luke Wilcox, and ‘make John G. Bruce or his personal representative, if he be dead, a party to this suit. It should set aside and avoid the deed made October 3, 1865, by C. Hedrick, administrator de bonis non with the will annexed of Luke Wilcox, to the •defendant, John McConihay, as made so as to include by mistake of the parties more property than ought to have •been conveyed to him; and upon his payment of the (purchase-money due from him, if it has not already been paid, by its being proven that he is the assignee of the legacy to John G. Bruce, the court should have a deed •executed to him conveying the land actually purchased •by him, that is, the land included in the appraisement made by C. Hedrick, John D. Lewis and A. P. Sennett,
Decree Reversed. Cause Remanded.