45 Conn. 422 | Conn. | 1878
The only question of importance in this case is, whether Mary I. Moore takes an estate in fee under the twelfth clause of the will of her late father, or takes only an estate for life. The clause in question is as follows: “I give, bequeath, and devise to my daughter, Mary Isabel, wife of Charles A. Moore, one-third of all the rest and residue of my estate, both real and personal, to hold the same to her and her heirs, to her sole and separate use, free from the interference and control of her husband; at her death to go immediately to her children, if she have children at that time. It is my will and direction that in case of her husband’s surviving her, (my said daughter Isabel,) he shall not have any use or
We are satisfied that the testator intended to give an estate in fee to the daughter in the twelfth clause of his will, and that what he said with regard to the property going to her children after her death, was said to make it clear that the property was to be her sole and separate estate, with no right in it on the part of her husband.
The construction we have given is further supported by the fact that the testator declares his intention in his will to treat his two daughters equally in the disposition of his property. That intention must have been immediately changed after it was expressed, if he granted only a life estate to his daughter Mary in the clause in question.
We advise the petitioners that Mary I. Moore takes an estate in fee under the twelfth clause of the will in question.