304 Mass. 471 | Mass. | 1939
Patrick J. Nolan, an employee of the city of Boston, retired in 1935, and elected to receive, in lieu of the retirement allowance provided by the Boston retirement system, a lesser retirement allowance payable through
Nolan and Isabella M. Smith visited the office of the board on June 2, 1938. A clerk produced the records of Nolan’s retirement, and told the executive officer of the board that Nolan wished to change his beneficiary from his estate to Isabella M. Smith. Nolan, in the presence of the executive officer and the clerk, signed an instrument nominating Isabella M. Smith under the statute, and acknowledged the instrument before the executive officer. It is not expressly found that the executive officer was a justice of the peace or a notary public, but that could be inferred from the finding that he took the acknowledgment. G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 4, § 6, Sixth. It is not expressly found that the executive officer signed a statement that the acknowledgment was made, but that, in view of the common practice in this Commonwealth, is to be inferred from the finding that Nolan “signed and acknowledged this instrument before” the executive officer. See Cook Borden & Co. Inc. v. Commonwealth, 293 Mass. 174, 179-181. Neither is it expressly found that the instrument was filed with the retirement board, but that can be inferred from the finding that in the summer of 1938 information was furnished at the office of the board which apparently must have been obtained by a perusal of the instrument.
The nomination0 of Isabella M. Smith, found to have been perfected on June 2, 1938, was not vitiated by the
The statutory power to nominate had not been exhausted by a nomination previous to June. When nominated in June, Isabella M. Smith was entitled to take beneficially. We need not discuss the statutory provision for nomination by the wife or the conservator of an incompetent retiring employee.
Decree affirmed with costs.