The accountant presents a question of will interpretation. Testatrix provided in paragraph 5 of her last will and testament, as follows:
“5. I give and bequeath unto my nephew, Robert Stevenson and Emily Stevenson, his wife, as tenants by the entireties, my seventy-eight (78) shares of common stock of Link Belt Company”.
The Link Belt Company stock split three for two on April 23, 1965. The question is, whether the 39 additional shares on the split attributable to the 78 share certificate pass under paragraph 5 of the will, or whether these 39 shares fall into the residue of the estate which is given to the Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children in Philadelphia. Decedent received 78 shares of Link Belt Company from her father, Otto H. Noble, on July 28, 1955. In December of 1955, she received an additional 75 shares of Link Belt stock, under the will of her deceased husband, Ernest D. Markley. Thus, when testatrix executed her will on September 14, 1960, bequeathing the 78 shares of common stock to Robert and Emily Stevenson, she owned an additional 75 shares.
While a will is only effective at death, the intent of the testatrix governs concerning the identity or the value of the legacy. This is governed by the words of the will in relation to the surrounding circumstances: McFerren Estate, 365 Pa. 490, 496. In McFerren Estate, the Supreme Court found that a bequest of 50 shares to each of two legatees, at a time when decedent owned 100 shares, manifested an intent to bequeath to each legatee one half of the stock which decedent
The account is confirmed, and it is ordered and decreed that Henry G. Keller, executor, as aforesaid, forthwith pay the distributions herein awarded.
And now, July 12, 1967, this adjudication is confirmed nisi.
