Wyatt v. Norris
Wyatt v. Norris
Opinion of the Court
This suit calls for a construction of the will of Ellsworth Norris, deceased. The testator was a bachelor. He owned a considerable estate, all of which he devised and bequeathed to his brothers and sisters, by specific dispositions in the will. He bequeathed to his brother, Claude D. Norris, ra retail grocery store together with all accounts, claims and debts due and owing to the testator and growing out of the business of that grocery. In two banks were deposits in the individual name of the testator, aggregating more than three thousand dollars, which deposits had arisen wholly from the receipts of the store. Claude D. Norris contends that this money is signified in the meaning of accounts, claims and debts growing out of the grocery business. He insists, therefore, that the money passed
Evidence has been introduced relating to the situation of the parties, to some declarations of the testator, and to other matters. But the language of the will is plain. The intention of the testator is obtainable from that language. The will itself and the surrounding circumstances are not such as to demand an interpretation different from that disclosed by the ordinary meaning of the terms employed. We must look to the will alone.
The particular paragraphs of the will' which concern our consideration of the case are the 'following:
“First: I desire that all my just debts and funeral expenses may be paid.
Second: * * * * Also, I give, devise and bequeath unto my brother Claude D. Norris, my entire stock of groceries and business conducted by me at No. 1033 Third Avenue, in the City of Huntington, West Virginia, together with all accounts, claims and debts due and owing me, growing out of said business to be his absolutely.
Fifth: All the rest and residue of my property, real, personal and mixed, including two vacant lots in the City of Huntington, one situate on Fifth Street and the other in Eiverview, I give and devise unto my brothers, Claude D. Norris, George W. Norris, William Norris and Frank Norris, and untó my sisters, Mrs. A. E. York and Mrs. Ella Crank, to be divided equally among them, to be held by them absolutely.”
Was it the intention of the testator to give Claude D. Norris the money in the banks? He has not in direct words said so. Then, do the words “all accounts, claims and debts due and owing me, growing out of said business” embrace in their import this money?
The words of a will must receive their usual and ordinary •popular signification, unless there is something in the context or the subject matter clearly indicating a different use of the terms employed. Page on Wills, section 471; 1 Eedfield on Wills; 438; 30 Atoier. & Eng. Enc. of Law, 670. If a testator
That Ellsworth Norris did not- consider ..the money in bank as included in the bequest to Claude D. Norris plainly appears from another consideration. Except under the residuary clause, the devises and bequests were in each case specific. He gave a particular property or a stated sum in each instance. It is evident that he intended each beneficiary to have the whole of that which he gave him. Yet we must presume that,he knew that there would be costs of administration, and we observe that, in the first paragraph of the will, he directed the payment of debts and funeral expenses. He contemplated the payment of all these things. From what money did he intend them to be paid if not from the money in the banks ? It appears that he had no other property which he considered of certain value except that which he had specifically devised or bequeathed. He evidently contemplated the payment of debts, funeral expenses, and other charges from the money in the banks. Thus we know that he did not consider that he bequeathed the money to his brother Claude. The money in the banks, remaining after the payment of the debts and necessary expenses, passed by the fifth paragraph of the will.
The vie-ws which we have expressed make it unnecessary to consider the writing by which, it is alleged, Claude D. Norris agreed to a distribution of the money in bank equally among the brothers and sisters. If he did so agree, he did only that which the testator directed in the will. ■
The decree of the circuit court is plainly right; it will be affirmed.
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.