Masson v. Washington Loan & Trust Co.
Masson v. Washington Loan & Trust Co.
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court:
The sole question which we are called upon to determine, therefore, is whether the income which the testator directed to be paid his stepmother should be reduced by the taxes, insurance, and other expenses on the house she was to use and occupy, as long as she might desire, “free and clear of rent, insurance, and any and all other expenses.” The answer to this proposition is to be found in the express provisions of the will and codicils. The testator was unmarried, and no one can read his will and its codicils without reaching the conclusion that his affection for his stepmother was that of a son. It well may be that he had known no other mother, and in interpreting his will we must have in mind that she was the particular object of his solicitude and bounty. Indeed, there is nothing to indicate that any other had any claim upon him. The inference is to the contrary, for he makes the hospital his residuary legatee.
In the first place, the will in express terms allows the stepmother to use and occupy the house in question, free and clear of all charges. This is a direct command, and any modification of it must be found in the language subsequently employed. The residuary clause of the will, in our view, in no way modifies tins provision, for it merely directs the trustee to take charge of, manage, and control “all the rest, residue, and remainder” of the testator’s property. The use and control of the house in question already had been provided for, Mrs. Masson having been made life tenant. The authority of the trustee as to this
It results from what we have said that the decree must be reversed, with costs, and the case remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
Reversed and remanded.
Reference
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- MASSON v. WASHINGTON LOAN & TRUST COMPANY
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- Wir.r.s; Income. Where a testator, wbo was unmarried, provided by bis will that his stepmother, who was the particular object of his solicitude and bounty, should have, in addition to pecuniary bequests, the use for her life of his house, “free and clear of rent, taxes, insurance, and any and all other expenses which may be chargeable against said property,” and that she should also have for life the income from the residue of his estate, which was to be managed and controlled by the executor, after deduction of all expenses incidental to its management, with remainder over after her death to a charitable institution, it was /¡.eW that the life tenant was entitled during her lifetime to the gross amount,of the income of the estate, undiminished by the payment of taxes, insurance, and other expenses chargeable against the house, and that having received only the amount of the income diminished by the payment of such charges, although she had protested against such an interpretation of the will by the executor, her executrix was entitled, in a suit brought for the construction of the will, to receive from the executor the difference between the amount the life tenant received and the amount she should have received. Note.—Authorities discussing the question of duty of devisee of income to pay taxes are collated in a note in 32 L.B.A. 755.