282 Mass. 25 | Mass. | 1933
This is a petition brought by the executor of the will of Thomas Ash for instructions respecting the construction of the sixth clause of the will, which is as follows: “I give and bequeath to Elmer Shea all of my remaining personal property, excepting however any money which remains in bank, or which I may have on my person, or otherwise, after the payment of the aforesaid legacies.” By previous clauses of his will the testator had bequeathed to a sister $500; to another sister $500 with the provision that if this sister should decease before the testator the
It is the contention of the' appellant that the bequest to him under the sixth clause of the will is specific, and that the property is to be exonerated from all encumbrances under the rule stated in Richardson v. Hall, 124 Mass. 228, and Johnson v. Goss, 128 Mass. 433. This contention cannot be sustained. In Robertson v. Broadbent, 8 App. Cas. 812, the provision in the .will there construed was similar to that in the present case. After making certain pecuniary bequests the testator gave “all my personal estate and effects of which I shall die possessed, and which shall not consist of money or securities for money . . .” to the plaintiff, and bequeathed all the rest and residue of his estate, real and personal, to trustees upon certain trusts. It was held that the gift to the plaintiff was not specific
There is nothing in the other clauses of the will here considered indicating that the testator intended the gift in the sixth clause to be specific. We are of opinion that the bequest is general and that the appellant takes title to the truck subject to the lien of the vendor to which it was subject at the time of the testator’s death, without exoneration by the estate.
Decree affirmed.