27 N.W.2d 900 | Iowa | 1947
In 1944 defendant Joseph Henry Bryan held money totaling $5,000 which his aunt, Jessie Gorden, had sent him for safekeeping at various times between 1935 and 1940. In May 1944 he received by mail a letter dated May 8, 1944, addressed to him and signed by her, stating "* * * and at my death the money I have down thair you take it and devide it among yours sisters and your brother and your self." The record indicates she then had no thought of impending death from a present illness or impending peril.
Jessie Gorden died July 17, 1944, aged eighty-four years. She was a widow and apparently left no direct heirs. The residuary clause of her will, made in 1930, divided the bulk of her estate (about $26,000) equally among various collateral heirs, among whom were Bryan, his six sisters, and his brother, defendants herein.
The executor of her will instituted this proceeding, praying that said $5,000 be adjudicated to be part of her estate and be charged against the residuary shares of the defendants. Upon trial the application was denied and the $5,000 adjudicated to be no part of testatrix' estate. The executor appeals.
[1] We are satisfied the record clearly shows a valid gift inter vivos to defendants. Jessie Gorden's letter of May 8, 1944, evidenced her intention to make such gift. Abegg v. Hirst,
[2, 3, 4] That a gift may be executed in this manner is well settled. Delivery directly to the donees is not essential. It may be made to some person as agent or trustee for the use of the donees. Tucker v. Tucker,
BLISS, GARFIELD, HALE, MANTZ, MULRONEY, SMITH, and HAYS, JJ., concur.
