Dilliard v. Connoway
Dilliard v. Connoway
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
Lewis Dilliard made his last will and testament, in which the following bequest is contained: “ In order to provide for my dearly beloved wife, Permilia Dilliard, I hereby bequeathe to her, during her natural life, all that portion of land known as the north half of section one, town six, and range four west of the basis meridian of the Chickasaw cession, Mississippi, with alHhe improvements thereon; also, the whole of my perishable property, negroes, stock, farming utensils, and other personal property, provided she remain single ; but in the event of her marrying, I wish the above named landed premises divided equally between her and my brother, John Dilliard, so soon as she changes her widowhood.”
The widow married again, and it is conceded that she thereby forfeited her life estate in one half of the land. The appellants insist that she thereby also divested herself of all interest in the personal property.
We do not .think this result follows from a fair construction of the will. It will be seen that the entire estate of the husband, both real and personal, was bequeathed to the wife
It is not necessary to decide whether the parol evidence in the record was admissible or not. Its admission did not prejudice the rights of the appellants; for in the view we have taken, the will, on its face, justifies the decree of the court below.
Decree affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Martha B. Dilliard v. Permilia Connoway
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published