36 S.C. 302 | S.C. | 1892
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Rebecca H. Rivers, as plaintiff, began her action in the Court of Common Pleas for Hampton County against C. M. Rivers, as executor, &c., of F. D. Rivers, deceased, Mary Ann Rivers, a minor, Jacob H. Rivers, J. M. Rivers, and Rebecca Matthews, as defendants, for the purpose of having the will of her husband, F. D. Rivers, construed, so that her interest thereunder might be ascertained and a trustee appointed to protect her estate. The cause came on to be heard before Judge Norton on the pleadings, but inasmuch as the questions to be considered here relate almost exclusively to legal propositions, we think these can be made apparent by the reproduction of the
In 1881, F. D. Rivers executed his will. He died in 1890. His will provided: “Then I desire that my executor hereinafter named shall pay my just debts from my estate. For and in consideration of the love and affection which I bore and have for my nephew, George Thomas Rivers, 1 give and bequeath to him my entire home tract of land where I live, containing two hundred and fifty-five acres.
The Circuit Judge made the following decree: “Franklin D. Rivers published his will 26 March, 1881, and died 9 June, 1890. This action is brought by his widow to ascertain her rights in testator’s estate. The action is heard upon the pleadings. Counsel agree that after the making of his will, testator reinvested the money on hand at the time of its execution, and also accumulated other property, and that they are represented by choses in action and other property. Without here copying any clause of the will, I will state my conclusions of it, so far as the rights of the plaintiff are concerned. She is entitled to occu
■ The next four exceptions will he considered together, for reasons that will be hereafter stated. “4. Because his honor erred
■ All of the provisions of the will pertaining to the specific devise and bequest' provided fur George Thomas Rivers are to be construed together as a whole. And when this is done, and we seek to give effect to the intention of the testator, is it not manifest that the testator intended by these provisions to carve out an estate that should be enjoyed by this favorite nephew himself if alive, but in the event he left a child or children, that such child or children should take such portion ? This construction of the will harmonizes all its provisions and makes effectual the testator’s intentions. It will be observed how careful this testator was to confine his provisions for his wife’s care and support to her widowhood or life. If the contrary view as to his intentions should prevail, the opposite result would obtain, for she will thereby secure a support, even if it should consume in reaching that end the whole of the estate, all but the lands devised to W. M. D. Rivers and the note for a mule given by Jacob Henry Rivers; and not only so, but she will have the one-half absolutely of the balance left at her death. The testator certainly did not intend such a result. We are aware that no argument is to be based upon particular hardships and results of seeming injustice, if the plain intent of the testator requires such results. However that may be, it is legitimate to construe the whole will in order to determine a testator’s intention in providing a scheme for the use of his property. We must sustain the exceptions thus grouped.
It is the judgment of this court, that the judgment of the Circuit Court be modified as is herein required, and that the cause be remanded to the Circuit Court to carry into effect the provisions of the judgment of this court.