38 Pa. 314 | Pa. | 1861
The opinion of the court was delivered,
— We are of opinion that under the will, Mrs. Miitter takes the whole estate of the testator, subject only to the payment at her death of the legacies to John Armistead Carter, Mrs. Mary L. Eliason, Thomas Miitter Cleeman, and Thomas Miitter Hoff. The paramount purpose, the ruling intention, of the testator evidently was to make the most ample provision for his wife, if she should survive him. ' Accordingly, after having given directions for carrying out an agreement which he had made with the “ College of Physicians,” he bequeathed to her all his property of every description and everything which he possessed, or to which he might have any claim, with the sole exception of the bequest to the “ College of Physicians.” He next directed that if Ms proposed arrangement with the college should fail, and if the New York Academy of Medicine should also decline his propositions, the legacy which he had given to them should be paid to his wife, if she should survive him. Then again he gave and bequeathed his entire property, without restriction, to his wife, in the contingency that further losses should reduce it to a value less than the sum of ninety thousand dollars, clear of all encumbrance and doubt.
Having thus made arrangements for the distribution of his entire estate, he. next settled another disposition of it, to take effect only in the contingency that he should survive his wife. By this alternative disposition he gave, among other legacies, four to the persons above named, without directing any postponement of the time of enjoyment, and appointed a residuary legatee. He then added, “ I wish to state distinctly that the above-named, legacies (referring to all those given, if his wife should die before him) only hold good in case of my surviving my beloved wife, to whom I give the entire use of my estate and property during her life and in fee to will at her death. But I wish the four following legacies to be paid at her death, viz.: ten thousand dollars to John Armistead Carter, or in case of his death to his son Welby; ten thousand dollars to Mrs. Mary L. Eliason, or in case of her death to her daughter Mary, to be settled upon herself; five thousand dollars to Thomas Miitter Cleeman, or in case of his death to be divided between his two sisters; five thousand dollars to Thomas Miitter Hoff, and in case of death, to revert to his mother.”
Does then this latter clause cut down to a life interest the absolute and entire estate given to the wife in the former part of the will ? If it be utterly inconsistent with the gift of the whole
We need only add, it is quite clear they are vested legacies in the legatees living at the death of the testator.
The decree of the Orphans’ Court is reversed, and it is ordered, adjudged, and decreed, that the sum of $10,000 be awarded to John Armistead Carter, the sum of $10,000 to Mrs. Mary L. Eliason, the sum of $5000 to Thomas Miitter Cleeman, and the sum of $5000 to Thomas Miitter Hoff, each of said sums to be paid at the death of Mrs. Mary W. A. Miitter, without interest, and that the remainder of the sum for distribution be retained by the said Mrs. Mary W. A. Miitter in her own right, absolutely, and as entire proprietor, and the interest of the four first-mentioned legacies is adjudged to the said Mary W. A. Miitter during her natural life.