Benedict v. Hawthorn
Benedict v. Hawthorn
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Cassie Benedict, widow of F. S. Benedict, agreed to convey to Ludlow and Emma O. Hawthorne, defendants, a piece of land left by her husband, and disposed of under his will. The only question necessary for the court below to answer was whether she could convey a good and marketable title to the premises. It was unnecessary to decide the quantity of the estate the widow took so long as she had power to convey a fee simple title. The operative section of the will is as follows: “I give to my beloved daughter, C. Mae, one thousand dollars. All the residue of my estate, real, personal and mixed, which I shall be entitled at my decease, I give, devise and bequeath to my beloved wife, Cassie. Should my wife and C. Mae die and C. Mae leave no children I will that the property left by them be equally divided between the Benedict and Smith heirs.” The gift to the wife, in the
The appellee had the power to convey a good and marketable title to the premises and the judgment of the court below is affirmed.
Reference
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- Wills—Construction—Devise to. widow—Power to consume — Fee simple estate—Words, etc.—“Property deft.” 1. Where testator, after bequeathing a money legacy to a daughter, gives and devises the residue of his estate to hia wife, and directs that, if his wife and daughter die', an'd the daughter leaves no children, “the property left by them be equally divided between” other parties named, the wife has power to consume all of the estate, real and personal, left to her, and may make a good title in fee simple of the real estate. 2. Not decided, whether, under the will, an alternate power of consumption, after the widow’s death, was vested in the daughter, with an ultimate remainder to her children of what was left in fee.