Appeal of Kline
Appeal of Kline
Opinion of the Court
Opinion,
Whatever of estate Julia A. Hagenbuch took in the property of her husband, she took under his will, and she is, therefore, bound by a proper interpretation thereof and by the intention of the testator as therein expressed. We must, then, look to that will to discover the rights of the parties litigant; to the intention of the testator, and not merely to the technical effect of the expressions of which he may have made use. Keeping this rule in view we think the matter before us is not difficult of solution.
By his will Peter Hagenbuch gave to his wife, Julia A., one half of the net income arising from the one half of his real estate for the full term of her natural life, and should that realty be converted into money and thereby the income from the lands themselves cease, she was to receive the one half of the interest of the proceeds arising from the sale of the said lands. From this it is obvious that the intention was not a gift of a life estate in one half of the realty as such, but rather in the one half of the net income or interest of the proceeds after sale; that is, the income or interest thereof after deducting all necessary expenses and charges. In this we think the master and court below erred; for they assumed that a gift of the one half of the income was a gift of- an absolute estate in the lands. Of course, an unqualified gift of the income of land is to be taken as a gift of the land itself; but where, as in this ease, that gift is qualified by a direction to, or power in, some one else to sell, it is clear that the gift must be confined to the
On the question of jurisdiction we need spend no time, for what we have already said effectually disposes of the plaintiff’s biU.
Decree reversed, and bill dismissed at costs of appellee.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- APPEAL OF DAVID A. KLINE
- Cited By
- 12 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. An unqualified gift of the income of land is to be taken as a gift of the land itself; but where the gift of the income is qualified by a direction to or a power in some one else to sell the land, the gift must be confined to the income alone. 2. A gift of one half of the net income of the testator’s real estate to his widow, with a power to the executors in discharge of debts and legacies to apply the income of the real estate thereto, or, if that were impracticable or inadvisable, to sell such real estate as they might deem best for that purpose, charged the real estate with both debts and legacies, and the widow’s interest was the one half of the net income of the real estate thus charged.