25 A. 652 | R.I. | 1892
This is an action of assumpsit to recover interest on a legacy. The case is as follows: John A.C. Stacey died in Newport, March 15, 1889. By his last will and testament he gave and bequeathed to Mary A. White, resident of New York, a legacy of $1000, without specifying any time of payment. The legatee died within one year after the decease of the testator. Subsequently the plaintiff claimed a personal interest in the legacy and within the year after the decease of the testator notified the defendants to pay it no one but himself. No administrator was appointed on the estate of the legatee until the appointment of the plaintiff, October 21, 1891. On that date the defendants paid to the plaintiff the legacy, $1,000, but refused to pay any interest. The assets which came to the hands of the defendants were more than *49 sufficient for the payment in full of the testator's debts and legacies given in his will with interest.
The question raised on the facts stated is, whether the plaintiff is entitled to interest on the legacy for the period between March 15, 1890, or from the expiration of one year after the decease of the testator, to the date of payment, October 21, 1891.
The general rule, which has been recognized and applied in this State, is that the legatee of a pecuniary legacy when no time of payment is specified in the will is entitled to interest after the lapse of one year from the death of the testator.Derby, Executor, v. Derby et als.,
We do not think these circumstances are sufficient to prevent the application of the rule. The rule is founded on the principle that interest follows as an incident of, or accretion to, the legacy, and not on the principle that its payment is imposed on the executor as a penalty for his default or neglect. Hence, it is recoverable from the time the legacy is payable though no demand for payment has been made. Kent v. Dunham,
We have no provision such as appears to exist in some States, whereby, in cases in which the legatee dies before receiving the legacy, or is incapacitated to receive it, the money may be paid into court or invested for his benefit or the benefit of his legal representatives. We do not think, however, that the absence of such a provision is sufficient to prevent the application of the rule, since, as stated in Lyon's Adm'r. v. Maganos'Adm'r., 7 Gratt. 377, 379, it is the duty of the executor in such a case to invest the legacy in some interest bearing fund.
We do not see that the fact that the plaintiff notified the defendants to pay the legacy to no one but himself can have any effect to deprive him of the right to recover interest. The defendants could not safely have paid the money to any one except the legal representative of the legatee. This they did immediately on his appointment. The notice, therefore, did not prevent them from paying the legacy at the earliest possible moment that they could properly do so; and even if it had, it was held in Kent v. Dunham,
Exceptions overruled and judgment of the Court of Common Pleas affirmed with additional costs of this court.