Cox v. Humphrey
Cox v. Humphrey
Opinion of the Court
Opinion op the Court by
— Affirming.
During the present year Mrs. Mary Moss Churchill Humphrey entered into a contract with W. N. Cox by
Mrs. Humphrey’s title was acquired in the following manner: On March 22, 1852, John McKinley and his wife, Elizabeth McKinley, conveyed the property in question, together with a number of other tracts of land, situated in the city of Louisville, to Andrew McKinley, in trust, to hold the same for Mary Churchill, the mother of Mrs. Mary Moss Churchill Humphrey, during her life time and after her death to be disposed of as follows:
“At the death of said Mary Churchill, should her children, or any of them be of full age, said Andrew shall convey to such child or children being of full age, his or her equal portion of all the property herein conveyed, including an equal portion of such as may be acquired by the trustee by the accumulation of the trust estate, and if the said Mary should die before any of her children arrive at full age, the said Andrew shall retain the possession and control of the trust estate and apply the rents accruing therefrom as hereinabove directed, until the children of the said Mary shall respectively attain their majority, when he shall convey to them their respective and equal portions of said estate as- herein-above directed. And if Julia Churchill and Mary Moss Churchill, daughter of said Mary, be living at the time of the death of their mother, their respective portions of said estate shall be conveyed to them for and during their natural lives for their sole and separate use, and to their heirs forever.”
At the date of this conveyance, Mary Churchill was married to Alexander P. Churchill, and had four chil
Hpon submission of the ease the chancellor adjudged that Mrs. Mary Moss Churcbill Humphrey took a fee simple title in the property in controversy. Prom that judgment Cox appeals.
It'will be observed that, by the clause of the deed before us for interpretation, the grantors therein directed that the property embraced in the deed, as well as any property acquired by the accumulation of the trust estate, be conveyed, after the death of Mrs. Mary Churchill, to her children, in equal portions, upon their attaining their majorities. Then follows the provision, “And if Julia Churchill and Mary Moss Churchill, daughters of said Mary, be living at the time of the death of their mother, their respective portions of said estate shall be conveyed to them for and during their natural' lives for their sole and separate use, and to their heirs forever.” It is the duty of courts to construe a deed so as to give effect to each part thereof; and where there is an apparent conflict between two provisions and one interpretation will make the provisions entirely inconsistent, but another will harmonize the two provisions, the court should adopt the latter, if it can be done without doing violence to the language employed. Here we have a case where, in the first part of the clause, the property is directed to be conveyed absolutely, and in the second part that portion given to Mrs. Churchill’s daughters is to be conveyed to them “during their natural lives for
In other words, the grantors intended that their granddaughters should be protected in the enjoyment of their property by providing that, during their lives, it should be held as' their separate estate, and did not mean to limit their interest therein merely to an estate for life. We are, therefore, of the opinion that Mrs. Humphrey owns in fee simple the property in controversy.
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published