55 Me. 284 | Me. | 1867
This is a bill brought by the surviving executor and trustee under the will of Mary Preble, to obtain the legal construction to be given to certain provisions in the same, and to ascertain the mode of executing the trusts created thereby., All interested are made parties to the bill.
Mary Preble., by her last will and testament, appointed her executors as trustees. They were to have the entire care and management of her estate, to be holden and managed by them for the benefit of her grandchildren, a son and two daughters of her only son Edward, agreeably to the provisions and directions contained therein. After payment of all her just debts, charges and legacies, her whole estate, real, personal and mixed, was to remain and be kept under the care and management of the persons named as trustees, to be by them managed with care and prudence for the benefit of her said grandchildren; and so to continue and remain for the period of twenty years from the time of making this will; during which period, the whole of said property is directed and intended to continue and be kept in that condition, undivided, under the care and management of the executors for the purposes aforesaid, until the said period shall fully expire. So much of the income and profits of the estate, as may in their judgment be necessary and proper, was to be applied to the education and support of her said grandchildren and fov suitable provisions out of the same, in case of their marriage and coming to have
It is apparent that, for twenty years/ the grandchildren were to have no control over the estate. It was to be under the care and management of the executors and trustees. Their powers and duties were accurately defined. The trust is limited in time. It embraces the whole estate, and not a fraction. When it ends, it ends as to the whole estate. When the trust expires by the limitation of time, no further duties are to be done by the trustees. The estate, at the expiration of the period prescribed by the will, is to pass from'the trustees and to vest in the grandchildren. In every part of the will, in all its various clauses, the trust estate is continued only for the period of twenty years. The trust estate limited in time by the will, and expiring by its own limitation, what then is to become of the estate of which the trustees have had charge since the decease of the testatrix ?
The answer to this question is to be found in the ninth clause in the will, which is in these words : — "Ninthly. It is my will that at the expiration of said period of twenty years from this time, the whole of my estate and property
The language of this clause is clear and precise. The whole estate is to vest " at the expiration of said period of twenty years.” Nothing is to remain in the care or under the management of the trustees. No distinction is made on account of sex. ,The words used apply irrespective of sex. They cannot be made to vary in their signification because one devisee may be a grand-son and the others daughters. If they give the fee to the grand-son, they give the same estate and none other to the grand-daughters.
"The word "estate,” as held in the American Courts, is a word of the greatest extension, and comprehends every species of property, real and personal, and will carry a fee unless restrained. It describes both the corpus and the extent of interest.” 2 Redfield on Wills, o. 14, § 48. A devise of all "my real estate,” without words of limitation, passes a fee simple by force of the word "estate.” Godfrey v. Humphrey, 18 Pick., 537 Putnam v. Emerson, 7 Met., 333. The words " all of the estate” of the testator, pass a fee simple. Josselyn v. Hutchinson, 21 Maine, 339. Indeed, it cannot for a moment be doubted that the words " all of my said estate and property,” as used in this section of the will, give the devisees a fee simple. If they give this to the grand-son, the grand-daughters, by force of the same words, must take an equal estate.
The testatrix then proceeds as follows: — "It is further
The testatrix, by a previous clause, had devised her grandchildren an estate in fee simple, — thus giving to each and alike the complete control over their share in her estate, and the full power of alienation. This last clause was not in limitation but in furtherance of the rights of the granddaughters. It was to prevent any control of their estate by their husbands, — to preserve their entire rights without let, hindrance or interference on their part.
The "control” to be guarded against was legal control, on the part of the husband, by virtue of his marital rights; the " disposition” of their estates to be feared was one in the exercise of those rights. The grand-daughters could not be, nor was it desirable they should be protected from and against the just aud natural influence arising from the marital relation, — so far as that might affect their conduct in the management of the estate, or in the spending of their incomes. That influence could only be avoided, by the avoidance of matrimony.
The testatrix did not intend the husbands should have power to lease, mortgage, sell, or in any way dispose of or manage the estate devised, — nor that it should in any way be liable for their debts.
It is apparent, therefore, that a release to the granddaughters will secure the estate to them for "their own use and benefit,” so "as not to be subject to the control and disposition of their or either of their husbands.”
If the design of the testatrix was to restrict the rights of the grand-daughters in the control and disposition of these estates devised to them in fee, such design would be against law. A provision in a devise of land, that the same shall " not be subject or liable to conveyance or attachment,” is void, because repugnant to the estate devised. Blackstone Panic v. Davis, 21 Pick., 42; Gleason v. Fairweather, 4 Gray, 348.
According to the true construction of the will of Mary Preble, it is declared : —
(1,) That the trusts created thereunder and thereby cease and are terminated at the expiration of twenty years from the date of said will.
•(2,) That, at the expiration of said period, "the whole of her said estate and property” is to be equally divided be
And it is ordered, that the surviving trustee, after paying all debts and settling his final account, pay over to the devisees all moneys remaining in his hands belonging to the estate, releasing to the grandchildren all his title to the estate and property of the testatrix.
And it is further ordered and decreed that the costs of these proceedings are a charge upon the estate of said Mary Preble.