34 Mich. 451 | Mich. | 1876
This case was commenced to determine who were the heirs at law of Thomas Burke, Jr., deceased.' The facts as found by the circuit judge were as follows:
“Thomas Burke, Jr., died while yet an infant under the age of twenty-one years, unmarried and intestate.
“His father, Thomas Burke, Sen., died intestate, some two- or three years before his death, leaying him, his widow, the said Ann Burke, the said Thomas Burke, Jr., now dead, and two other sons, John and George Burke, who were brothers of the half blood of the said Thomas Burke, Jr. All the estate of the said Thomas Burke, Jr., now deceased,. including the land mentioned in the petition, came to him by descent from his father, the said Thomas Burke, Sen. Prior to the death of the said Thomas Burke, Jr., the estate of his father had been fully administered, closed, and settled, and the land in the petition had been set off to him, the said Thomas Burke, Jr., as a portion or all of his share-of the estate, and the widow of Thomas Burke, Sen., and mother of Thomas Burke, Jr., now claims title by part 3’ of Sed. 4309, that she is entitled to share equally with his-two brothers in his estate.”
The only question here raised is as to the correctness of this conclusion from the facts found.
Plaintiff in error, the mother of Thomas Burke, Jr., claims that this case comes under, and is governed by the third subdivision of § 4309, which reads as follows:
“ Third, If he shall leave no issue, nor* widow, nor father, his estate shall descend in equal shares to his brothers and sisters, and to the children of any deceased brother or sister, by right of representation: Provided, That if he shall leave a mother also, she shall take an equal share with his brothers and sisters.”
Defendants claim that the sixth subdivision governs, which reads as follows:
“Sixth, If any person shall die leaving several children, or leaving one child, and the issue of one or more other children, and any such surviving child shall die under age, and not having been married, all the estate that came to the deceased child by inheritance from such deceased parent, shall descend in equal shares to the other children of the same- parent, and to the issue of any such other children who shall have died, by right of representation.”
The third subdivision, if standing alone, would clearly apply to, and govern this case.
If there is an apparent conflict between the third and sixth subdivisions, we must examine the entire section, and, if possible, harmonize and give effect to the various provisions, according to the evident intent of the legislature, so far as that intent may be gathered from the language used. The first five subdivisions of this section would seem to have reference to, and provide for, the descent of the real estate of intestates generally, without any reference to the manner in which, or source from whence the intestate acquired or derived his title. The sixth and seventh subdivisions go back to the source from whence the deceased minor intestate
The conclusion of the circuit court was correct, and the judgment must be affirmed, with costs.