106 Ala. 279 | Ala. | 1894
— The 12th item in the will of M. Louise Kenan contains the following bequest: “I bequeath to Charles DeYampert the sum of one thousand dollars either in stocks or money. ” It is shown that testatrix, at the time of making her will and at the time of her death, owned sundry stocks of variant market values. The legatee insists that he is entitled to money or stocks at his election and that, electing to take stocks, he is entitled to shares of the face or nominal value of one thousand dollars regardless of the market value thereof. This view is unsound. It seems clear to us that this legacy is not specific, but general and pecuniary: the legatee is not entitled to any specific stocks, but to one thousand dollars, and this one thousand dollars, but not more, he may take in money or in stocks of that value, not nominal but real. The authorities are so clear to this conclusion that we deem it only necessary to cite some of them. — 3 Pomeroy’s Eq. Jur., §§ 1130, 1132 : 13 Am. & Eng. Encyc. of Law, pp. 10 et seq.; Myers’ Extr. v. Myers, 33 Ala. 85; Hooper v. Bibb & Falkner, Extrs, 47 Ala. 547 ; Gilmer’s Legatees v Gilmer’s Executors, 42 Ala. 9 ; Brown et al. v. Grimes, 60 Ala. 647; Maybury et al. v. Grady et al., 67 Ala. 147; Kelly v. Richardson, Extr., 100 Ala. 584.
In a codicil to Mrs. Kenan’s will is this provision:
The decree of the chancery court is in line with the foregoing views on each of the points we have discussed; and it must be affirmed on each of the appeals.