73 W. Va. 519 | W. Va. | 1914
Lead Opinion
The suit in which we have this appeal is one brought by the executor of-the last will and testament of 'William H. Hill, deceased, for a construction of the will. The final decree in the cause denies to the appellant, The Board of Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, a corporation, the right to take as a legatee under that part of the will which'we now copy here just as it appears in the record:
“Seventh: I will and direct my said Executor, and his successor; -to continue the collection of the royalties accruing ■on my said interest in the ‘Open Fork’, of Bell Creek, above mentioned' — till a fund sufficient, has fully accrued, to carry ■out; and fully pay off; all of the cash bequest hereinabove enumerated.; then; after a full consumation said cash” provisions I further will; and direct that all of my estate both personal ; and real, be sold, for cash; or good and solvent securities, and the entire fund accruing therefrom, to be applied, in equal proportion to the Trustees; or other proper authorities of the following Religious Denominations — viz, ‘Green-brier Presbytery’. (Southern Assembly,) M. E. Church (‘South’) Hopewell Missionary Baptist Association, and to the Protestant Episcopal Church.’ Diocese of West Virginia, and to be applied by the proper authorities of said Religious Denominations; as in their judgment, will accomplish the greatest good; for the true advancement, of Christianity.
I constitute and appoint C. W. Osenton as the Executor of t.hnsr my last Will and his successors to be appointed by the Circuit Court of Fayette Co W. Va with proper bond; for carrying out all the provisions, of this my last Will; and testament.”
The will was written wholly by the testator. It will be observed thiat the document is badly punctuated. The proper punctuation, however, may readily be supplied. No question in the case arises on this score.
Testator was an unmarried man of considerable means, without relatives nearer than first cousins and descendants of such. It seemis that there had been.no intimate relation
It appears that the testator, though not always a man of pious trend, was interested in the work of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, gave liberally to local causes of that denomination, frequently attended its services, and1 was especially solicitous as to its financial welfare.
■ That the paragraph of the will in question, if valid as to any of the bequests sought to be made thereby, works an equitable conversion of the real estate into money, will not be seriously controverted by anyone. In what we shall say, therefore, we shall view the will as one giving to appellant, if anything, a bequest of money, and not a devise of land.
That the testator had in mind trustees or authorities of denominations and not of local societies or congregations is clear from his use of the term “denominations”, as well as from the descriptions of a presbytery, an association, and a diocese, in the other bequests which are coupled with the one in question, but which have coneededly failed for indefiniteness. If is plain that the testator was endeavoring to bestow on larger fields of the denominations which he named than on mere local churches. So when he mentions the “M. E. Church, South,” he is intending to give not for the benefit of any local society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, but for -the benefit of the denomination at large. For some reason he covered in his will a larger field for this denomination than for the others he mentioned. In making his will he was looking toward that denomination as a whole, to no sub-division of it. The will discloses that he knew that one denomination named by him had presbyteries, another associations, and another dioceses; and from this it is reasonable to assume that he knew that the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, had conferences. Net with this knowledge, he selects the latter denomination as a whole, not a conference thereof, and undertakes to give for its benefit as a whole. Let us mark that he
It is shown by the evidence that the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, has a body of trustees for the purpose of taking and holding in trust all bequests, donations, and the like, made for the benefit of the denomination at large. That body is The Board of Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church. South, a corporation under the laws of Tennessee. From the articles of incorporation and the by-laws of that body, in evidence, it appears sufficiently that such corporate body is the only auxiliary of the church existing for the purpose of taking and holding bequests made for the benefit of‘the church at large. That body was named to the testator by the presiding elder. Was the same meant by the testator when he bequeathed to ‘the Trustees * * of the * * M. E. Church South?’
We have pointed out that the will plainly shows that the
The mere mistake in not giving the exact name of the legatee can not defeat the bequest. It is proper to show by extrinsic evidence, as has been done in this case, the exact name of the legatee that the testator intended. “Parol evidence of the facts and circumstances surroundiug a testator is always admissible to identify a legatee or devisee not precisely described in the will.” Jordan’s Admr. v. Richmond Home
The purpose of the bequest named by the testator is directly within the object and purposes for which the legatee corporation was formed. The bequest is therefore not invalid on account of any indefiniteness as to the beneficiaries under the trust. “Foreign corporations may take bequests of charities under a will made in this State, when and to the extent authorized by their charters.” University v. Tucker, 31 W. Va. 621. “A devise to a corporation for the general purposes of its incorporation can not be said to be uncertain in any respect, and will be upheld. ’ ’ Jordan v. Universalist General Convention Trustees, 107 Va. 79. In the celebrated case of Gallego’s Executors v. The Attorney General, 3 Leigh 450, Judge Tucker said: “A bequest to a corporation capable to take, is and always was valid as a charitable gift. ’ ’
Nor is the bequest invalid because made to a foreign corporation for the general benefit of a religious denomination. That corporation is one authorized to take and hold such a bequest by the laws of the state of its creation. True, no such corporation can be created under the laws of this State. But there is nothing in our laws that forbids a foreign corporation from taking a bequest from a testator in this State, to be devoted to general religious purposes. Many such
We conclude, therefore, that the will makes a valid bequest of money to The Board of Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, a corporation under the laws of Tennessee, to the extent of one-fourth of the proceeds of the property which thle testator under the part of the will which we have recited herein directed to be converted into money. Wherein the decree adjudges otherwise the same will be reversed.
Reversed and Rendered.
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting):
Reading the words ‘ ‘ Trustees or other proper authorities of * * * * M. E. Church (“South”)” in connection with their context, I am unable to say the testator intended by them to designate the corporation claiming the bequest. He had in mind, not a corporation, but a religious denomination. Mark the relation and significance of the words used — “Trustees or other proper authorities of the following Religious Denominations”, one of which is the M. E. ,Cburcb South. The gift to the trustees of the M. E. Church, South, one of the “religions denominations”, nega