105 N.Y.S. 672 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1907
The question presented by this appeal involves the construction and validity of the 3d clause of the will of William Z. King. The material portions of said will read as follows, viz.:
“First.. I give, and bequeath to my wife, Mary E. King, the house and lot where I now live during hen lifetime, and at her decease I will that the said property shall go to my sisters, Eliza Tall man, Cynthia A. Tuthill, Emily M. Seaward and to Lilly Corwin, share and. share alike. * * *
“ Third. I give and bequeath all my personal property of every name and kind to my wife, excepting my piano, which I give to Lilly Corwin aforesaid.
“Whatever personal estate shall remain at the decease of my wife I give and bequeath to Buell Davis and Abagail Davis, the parents of my wife, or if they are not living, then to my sisters aforesaid and Lilly Corwin, share and share alike.”
The widow has died. ' The learned court at Special Term held, upon the authority' of Van Horne v. Campbell (100 N. Y. 287), that the widow took an absolute title to the personal property under the 3d clause of the will, and that the 2d paragraph thereof was void for repugnancy. That case decided that at common law an executory devise or bequest was void if the first taker was given the absolute power of disposition, but it did not determine that the rule had not been changed by the provision of the Revised Statutes re-enacted by section 47 of the Real Property Law, which is applicable to limitations of future or contingent interests in personal property (Pers. Prop. Law [Laws of 1897, chap. 417], § 2). The case of Leggett v. Firth (132 N. Y. 7) decided that the rule of the common law as declared in Van Horne v. Campbell (supra) was changed by the Revised Statutes.
The- other question discussed by the respondent is not presented by the record now before us.
. The judgment must be reversed.
Woodward and Jenks, JJ., concurred; Hirschberg, P. J., and Rich, J., concurred in result.
Judgment reversed and new trial granted, costs to abide the final award of costs.