27 Misc. 165 | N.Y. Sur. Ct. | 1899
This .is one of the matters that was heard by Mr. Surrogate Arnold, and that has since been submitted to me for decision. The intestate was a resident of Rew Jersey, and died leaving no descendants. Her husband died subsequently, without having applied for letters of administration. After the death of both husband and wife, a policy of insurance on the life of the wife’s father, for the benefit of his children, became payable through the death of the father. ■ Thereupon, one of the next of kin of the wife was appointed her administrator in this state, and, as such, collected certain moneys under this policy. The question now arises on the judicial settlement of the administrator’s accounts as to who is entitled to these insurance moneys, the next of kin of the husband or those of the wife. The laws of the state of Rew Jersey, the wife’s domicile, control in this matter. At the hearing, it was established that in Rew Jersey, the disl.ibution of the personal estate of a married woman dying intestate, without descendants, is governed by the common law. The manner in which the courts of that state construe the common law, as applied to the facts here existing, was not shown. In the event that the wife survives the husband, it is uniformly held that choses in action, which were not reduced to possession by the husband, belong to her absolutely. 2 Kent’s Com. 135. The disposition of unreduced choses in action of the wife where the husband survives, has given rise to some conflict.
¡Decreed accordingly.