Camden Trust Co. v. Wolfe
| Decision Date | 23 April 1942 |
| Docket Number | 129/568. |
| Citation | 25 A.2d 915,131 N.J.Eq. 437 |
| Parties | CAMDEN TRUST CO. v. WOLFE et al. |
| Court | New Jersey Court of Chancery |
Syllabus by the Court.
1. A gift by a testator to his widow in lieu of dower carries interest as of one year after the decease of the testator.
2. The general rules for the construction of a will are available and necessary only when the testator has failed by apt words and phraseology to clearly express his intention, and if that intent is apparent from a fair reading of the entire will it is controlling.
3. A gift of corpus at the expiration of ten years to the testator's children, "their executors, administrators and assigns" held to vest in the children as of the death of the testator, the words "their executors, administrators and assigns" being words of limitation and not substitutionary.
Suit in equity by the Camden Trust Company, executor of the will of Harry F. Wolfe, deceased, against Maurice A. Wolfe and others for construction of the will.
Decree construing the will.
F. A. DeMaris, Jr., of Camden, for complainant.
David T. Wilentz, Atty. Gen., and William A. Moore, of Trenton, Sp. Counsel, for defendant State.
Richardson A. Roberts, of Camden, for defendants Maurice A. Wolfe, Sr., and others.
Charles H. Stevens, of Camden, for defendants Mae A. Wolfe, guardian ad litem, etc.
Samuel J. Shmerelson, of Camden, for defendant Emil Levitt.
SOOY, Vice Chancellor.
The bill in this cause was filed by the executor of Harry F. Wolfe, deceased, praying that this Court construe the will of the said decedent and instruct complainant as to the true meaning and intent of the said will with reference to two questions: (1) "Is the income which the estate has received during the first year following the death of the testator, or any part thereof, to be paid to the said Maurice A. Wolfe and Joseph A. Wolfe and the administrator of the estate of Fannie R. McKnight, deceased, because of the provision of the will that the income 'during said period' is to be paid to the children or their representatives, or does such income, in accordance with the general rule that a legacy is not payable until the end of one year, become a part of corpus?" (2) "Is the gift of the corpus at the expiration of said term 'in equal portions to my said three children, Fannie R. McKnight, Maurice A. Wolfe and Joseph A. Wolfe, their executors, administrators and assigns,' a gift to the children only (the words 'their executors, administrators and assigns' being used as words of limitation), or do the words within the quotations describe a substitutionary class of takers, in the event that the children of the testator, or any of them, die before the expiration of said ten year period?"
All of the defendants named in the bill have answered, with the exception of Stanley R. McKnight, Sr., Stanley R. McKnight, Jr., Marion McKnight and Sudie I. Wolfe, the latter being the widow of the decedent and the former being the husband and children, respectively, of Fannie R. McKnight, daughter of decedent, who predeceased him, and against these defendants decrees pro confesso have been taken.
Guardians for all infant defendants were duly appointed and appeared through counsel, who filed answers for them.
It will be observed from the questions propounded by the bill that instructions are not sought with reference to the third paragraph of decedent's will, which is as follows: "Third: I give and bequeath to my said wife, Sudie I. Wolfe, absolutely, the one equal one-third part of my personal estate, in full satisfaction and in lieu of any dower or rights of dower to which she might be entitled in any real estate of which I may die seized."
However, the legacy being a general one in lieu of dower, it would seem that there could be no question but that the interest is to be from one year after the decease of decedent. Dutch Church at Acquackanonk v. Ackerman's Ex'rs, 1 N.J.Eq. 40; Howard v. Francis, 30 N.J.Eq. 444.
The instructions sought for require a careful consideration of the entire will, but particularly of the fourth paragraph thereof, which reads as follows: "Fourth: All the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, of every kind and description and wheresoever situate, I give and bequeath to the Camden Safe Deposit and Trust Company, its successors and assigns, in Trust, nevertheless, and to and for the following uses and purposes, and no other, to wit: to take and hold the corpus of said fund intact for the period of ten years after my decease, and during that period to invest, reinvest and keep invested the same in good, safe interest-bearing securities, and whether or not the same be authorized by law for the investment of trust funds, and to collect the income therefrom, and after deducting all legal costs and charges, to pay during said period the net income derived therefrom half yearly to my three children, Fannie R. McKnight, Maurice A. Wolfe and Joseph A. Wolfe in equal portions, and in case of the death of any of them before my decease, or if after my decease during said period of ten years, then to pay during said period the share of said income to which said deceased would have been entitled, to the executor or administrator of said deceased, and at the expiration of said term of ten years, to pay the corpus of said fund in equal portions to my said three children, Fannie R. McKnight, Maurice A. Wolfe and Joseph A. Wolfe, their executors, administrators and assigns."
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...beneficiary was the sole party in interest. Newlin v. Girard Trust Co., supra, was followed by Vice Chancellor Sooy in the case of Camden Trust Co. v. Wolfe, 131 N.J.Eq. 437, 25 A.2d 915, 918. There the Vice Chancellor declared: ‘* * * there seems to be no doubt but that the gift of the cor......
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