Zeitchick Estate
Zeitchick Estate
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
This appeal follows the decree of the Orphans’ Court of Philadelphia County, dismissing appellant’s exceptions to the amended supplemental adjudication of Judge Saylor, awarding $10,000 to the widow, Sophie Gross Zeitchick, appellee, as a creditor of the estate.
The testator died on December 14, 1963, survived by his widow, the appellee, and a son, the appellant. The marriage between the testator and the appellee was the second for both, and the appellant, decedent’s son, was born of his previous marriage. The parties were married on October 12,1956. On October 5, 1956, they executed an antenuptial agreement, under which the testator agreed to devise the premises at 6474 Anderson Street, Philadelphia, to appellee, in considera
On the same day, the testator executed his Last Will and Testament, wherein, as agreed in the ante-nuptial agreement, he provided: “2. I give, devise and bequeath to my beloved friend, Sophie Gross, whom I intend to marry within the next few weeks, real estate premises in which I reside, to wit: 6474 Anderson Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and all the contents thereof, subject, however, to any balance due on a mortgage against the said property. If I should sell the said premises 6474 Anderson Street before my decease, then in lieu thereof, I give, devise and bequeath to my beloved friend, Sophie Gross, the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars in cash as well as the contents of any other apartment or house which we may occupy as our home at the time of my death.”
In the same instrument, the testator devised and bequeathed to his son, Milton Zeitchick, all his right, title and interest in the partnership business conducted by himself and his son, including the real estate at 623 S. Sixth Street, Philadelphia, Pa., where the business was conducted. In addition, testator named his son as residuary legatee and executor of his estate.
On December 18, 1957, testator conveyed the premises at 6474 Anderson Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in which conveyance the appellee joined.
Testator’s estate consisted of a small amount of cash, household goods and furniture appraised at $708, decedent’s interest in the partnership of Harry Zeitchick & Son, and the real estate where the business was operated, valued at $10,500. At audit, on November
The validity of the antenuptial agreement and appellee’s status as a creditor were admitted at audit, at which time the appellant contended that appellee could only be paid from personalty, and that by reason of the language of Paragraph 6
On November 16, 1965, Judge Saylor filed a supplemental adjudication, in which he surcharged the appellant for breach of fiduciary responsibilities, and directed the appellant to pay the amount thereof into the estate, and to sell the real estate in order to pay the appellee. On November 24, exceptions were again filed, and on January 10, 1966, the proceedings were again
“That is whether or not Sophie Zeitchick is in fact a creditor, one; and two, if she is in fact a creditor, were not the premises isolated from any claim on her behalf.”
The court en banc, accordingly, at the request of appellant, dismissed all of the exceptions except the one relative to the finding of the auditing judge that appellee had a valid claim for $10,000. This exception, in turn, was dismissed by the court en banc for the reasons set forth in Judge Lefever's opinion of March 26, 1965. The court en banc confirmed absolutely the adjudication and supplemental adjudication as amended; this appeal followed.
The decision reached by the court below was proper. As we recently said in Pratt Estate, 422 Pa. 446, 450, 221 A. 2d 117 (1966) : “The law is well settled that where a testator in his will gives specified property or a share of his estate in exact or substantial compliance with the terms of his obligations under an inter vivos property settlement (or separation) agreement made with his wife, that wife is a creditor of his estate and not a legatee under his will. Mills Estate, 367 Pa. 504,
The same principles which apply to property settlements made in contemplation of separation or divorce apply with equal force to antenuptial agreements made in contemplation of marriage. Moreover, in Wilson Estate, 346 Pa. 562, 31 A. 2d 106 (1943), we stated: “. . . an antenuptial agreement ordinarily constitutes the wife a creditor rather than an heir [citing cases].” There is nothing in the conduct of appellee subsequent to the death of her husband to indicate that she has elected to regard herself as an heir or legatee rather than as a creditor.
Appellant’s contention that the language of Paragraph 6 of the antenuptial agreement insulates the property at 623 S. Sixth Street from appellee’s claim is effectively answered in the opinion of Judge Saylor of November 10, 1964. In that opinion, Judge Saylor said: “It is next contended that even though Sophie has the right as a creditor to proceed to collect the $10,000, she cannot do so with respect to 623 South Sixth Street, because of the waiver clause in the sixth item. There is no question as to the ability of the parties to insulate or release a given item of property from Sophie’s claim. Even a judgment creditor having a lien on several parcels of real estate can agree to release a particular tract from the lien of his judgment. The only question is whether by the language used in the antenuptial agreement she has done so.
“Counsel for the parties have not given due consideration to the closing words of the sixth paragraph: ‘to the same extent as though the parties to this agreement have never married’. To what does this clause relate, and what is its meaning? Looking at the com
“Whether Sophie was married to the decedent or not would not have any effect upon her ability to contest his will, assuming that she had an interest in the estate. It is, therefore, clear that the ‘to the same extent’ provision can apply only to modify ‘prevent the bequest’. But the only way in which a wife can prevent a bequest from taking effect, which is not available to a non-wife, is by an election to take against the will. The ‘prevent the bequest’ provision must therefore be read as referring to preventing the bequest from effect by taking against the decedent’s will.
“Sophie has not contested the will, nor has she filed an election to take against the will. Whether she was married or single would have no effect on her standing as a creditor, and therefore the provision under consideration does not bar her from asserting her rights as a creditor. In any event, the rights of the widow should not be taken away from her by vague language which would not convey to a reasonable person that when she signed the agreement she was agreeing that she would not be paid the $10,000 unless, in addition to premises 623 South Sixth Street, there was sufficient other property to pay her claim.”
We are not impressed by appellant’s argument that the will, by its language, limited the payment of $10,-000 to appellee only if there were $10,000 in cash among the assets of the estate. The will did not require a payment from cash; rather, it bequeathed to appellee, in lieu of the real estate, the sum of $10,000 in cash, which amount appellee is entitled to receive as a creditor of decedent’s estate.
Decree affirmed, costs to be borne by appellant.
Paragraph 6 of the antenuptial agreement contains an acknowledgment by appellee that she had been fully informed that testator had executed a will devising the real estate at 623 S. Sixth Street to appellant, and her agreement to take no steps to prevent that bequest from taking full force and effect.
Dissenting Opinion
Dissenting Opinion by
In my opinion, the antenuptial agreement reflects an intention on the part of each party thereto that in the event that the Anderson Street property were sold appellee would receive ten thousand dollars from any assets of the estate other than the business property. Indeed, appellee is herself partly responsible for the sale of the Anderson Street property because she joined in the conveyance. She could have protected her interests at that time by requiring that testator set aside for her the fund she now seeks from the sale of the business property.
Furthermore, although not an issue in this appeal, I would admonish the lower court to follow the practice set forth in Ellis v. Ellis, 415 Pa. 412, 203 A. 2d 547 (1964), wherein we held that the court of common pleas, not the orphans’ court, has jurisdiction, over the dissolution of partnerships and an accounting of the interests of the partners (living or deceased) therein. Only after the common pleas court has determined the value of the share of the deceased partner can the executor be surcharged for breach of fiduciary obligation. I, therefore, think that the court’s action in surcharging appellant was patently erroneous.
Finally, I would add that although the business property may have been titled in the name of testator alone, it may in fact have been an asset of the partnership, with the result that his estate could not acquire a greater right than he possessed during his lifetime. Ellis v. Ellis, supra.
I dissent.
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