Bedloe v. Homer
Bedloe v. Homer
Opinion of the Court
When this suit was commenced, the wife of the testator had deceased, and all the provisions in his will, and all the trusts created by it, in her behalf, had been fully executed. It remains therefore only to ascertain the rights which it conferred upon each of his children.
The will and codicils, although made and executed at different times, all took effect together upon the death of the testator, and are to be construed as in substance one instrument; the provisions in the latter modifying and controlling those in the former.
By the will, the testator first made provision for his wife, giving to her during her life the use of his mansion house, the sum of twenty thousand dollars to be paid to her in three years after his death, and an income of five thousand dollars to be raised out of a trust fund of one hundred thousand dollars, consisting of his real and personal estate. He then gave one hundred dollars to his daughter Josephine, and to his daughter Isabel a like sum, together with a further sum of five thousand dollars, to be paid to her on her being married or attaining her
These provisions were essentially modified by the codicils. By the first, he annulled the limitation of the income of the trust fund created in behalf of his wife, and bequeathed the whole of it to her. And in like manner he annulled the limitation of the annual payments to be made to Isabel out of the income arising from the residuum of his estate, devised and bequeathed to trustees for her benefit; and directed that she should receive the whole of it.
The changes made by the second codicil are of still greater importance. In his will he declared that the hundred dollars bequeathed to Josephine was “ all that she and her issue can or will ever receive from his estate.” But by the provisions of this codicil it is apparent that, his intention in regard to her had undergone a complete change. Here he first expresses his desire that his wife should use the income which she should receive from the trust fund of one hundred thousand dollars, created in her behalf by his will, “ for the benefit of his daughter Josephine, as well as of his daughter Isabel; ” but still leaves it wholly at her discretion. He then adds the important and comprehensive clause, “ that at the death of his wife one half of all his property then remaining and held under his will should be held and used for the benefit of his daughter Josephine during her life,” and at her death to go to her children. This clause operates upon the entire estate, except the two legacies of one hundred
From these considerations it is a necessary conclusion that the trustees rightly declined to charge themselves with or to set apart the sum of five thousand dollars to be appropriated as a payment of the legacy of that sum to Isabel; and the order and decree of the judge of probate, requiring them to reform their account and to set apart said sum and charge themselves in that manner, was erroneous and must be reversed; and instead thereof, a decree be made that all the said remaining estate be held thenceforward in trust, one half for the benefit of each of said daughters of the testator, upon the terms and according to the directions contained and expressed in the will and codicils relative thereto. Decree reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Henry Bedloe & wife v. Isabel Homer
- Status
- Published