Adams v. McMichael
Adams v. McMichael
Opinion of the Court
-It was decided by this court, at the -term before the last, ia a case brought by the children of -Mrs, Henderson .to -recover these slaves, that the remain* -der t© them was, according to the law of Georgia, void. Adams v. Henderson, 35 Ala. 723. The question now pre*
If we were at liberty to decide this question according to our own convictions of what the law should be,.we might, perhaps, hold that, the remainder -which the donor sought to create being void ctb initio, the slaves reverted to him. by operation of law. Keyes, in his -work on Chattels, lays down the doctrine, that gtuasi reversions of chattels personal exist in all cases, both at law and inequity, in which partial interests alone are created in-them j.,and in-all cases ia which partial interests are created, .with limitations over which fail to tabe effect, or which,are void ctb initio, or which subsequently become void. And he says, that the operation of this rule is not prevented by the fact, that there is a manifest intention on the part of the donor to dispose* of the whole interest; unless, .indeed, the conditional- limitations which are originally void, or--fail to take effect, are engratted upon interests in.the first takers, which, in the absence of such conditional limitations, would be held to be absolute interests. — Keyes on Chatt. §§ 275-6, 280-1. This opinion seems to be sustained by adjudged cases, both in. England and the United States. — Brown v. Kelsey, 2 Cushing, 243; Cresswell v. Emberson, 6 Ired. Eq. 151; James v. Masters, 3 Murphy, 110; Green v. Ward, 1 Russ. 262 ; Andree v. Ward, ib. 260. See, also, Geiger v. Brown, 4 McCord, 427-8.
On the other hand,, respectable authorities maintain the proposition, that .where the donor of a chattel manifests an intention to part with his whole interest,, .if the limitation over is either originally void, or incapable of- vesting when the contingency happens, the whole interest vests in the first taker. — Powell v. Brown, 1 Bailey, 100 ; Harris v. McLaran, 30 Miss. 533, (570, 573.)
But we are not at liberty, in the present case, to inquire which of these rules -is •• btest supported by reason and good sense. The gift was - made in . Georgia, and the rights of the parties to this controversy .must be determined-, by the law of that State..
Accepting this decision as a correct exposition of the rule of law which prevails in Georgia, we must hold, that the effect of the gift which was made in this case was to vest the absolute interest in the slaves in Lucinda Henderson j and that, by virtue of his marital rights, they became the property of her husband, and.did not, on her death, revert to the donor.
■Judgment reversed, and cause remanded.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- ADAMS v. McMICHAEL
- Status
- Published