105 N.Y.S. 403 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1907
Action for the construction of the will and codicil of Joseph Liebmann, deceased. The testator died on April 5, 1895, about two weeks after the execution of the will and codicil. He was fifty-six years of age at the time of his death. He was survived by his widow, then in her sixty-second year, his son, Henry, twenty-three years old, and four daughters, all of whom, excepting an incompetent, were married. The widow died on October 22, 1904, about ten years after her husband’s decease. At the time of the execution of the will the corporation of Obermeyer & Liebmann, brewers, had outstanding 300 shares of stock of the par value of $1,000 each. Of these 149 shares belonged to the testator, 149 shares were held by the Obermeyer family, and two shares, representing the balance of power, were held in trust. As to 21 of the 149 shares owned by the testator the will provided that his son should have the income thereof during the life of his mother; that as to the remainder of the shares (128) the mother should receive the income during her life; that upon her death the son was to receive absolutely the 21 shares above referred to and 24 additional shares, so that he should then be possessed of 45 shares, being approximately thirty per cent, of the entire interest of the testator in the corporation of Obermeyer & Liebmann, which constituted the bulle of testator’s estate. As to the remaining 104 shares the will confers an option upon the son to purchase the same at par at the expiration of ten years. Whether this period runs from the death of testator or from the death of his wife is the principal question to be determined in this action. The stock is valuable and earns to income from twenty to thirty per cent, annually. The