Chafee v. Maker

• Decision Date: 20 June 1892
• Citation: 24 A. 773,17 R.I. 739
• Parties: CHAFEE v. MAKER et al.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

24 A. 773

17 R.I. 739

CHAFEE

v. MAKER et al.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

June 20, 1892.

Bill in equity by Zechariah Chafee, as executor, against William H. Maker and others, for instructions, and the construction of the will of Calvin Dean, deceased.

Calvin Dean died May 6, 1856, leaving a last will dated September 14, 1854, which was proved before the municipal court of the city of Providence, June 10, 1856. By this will he made certain specific gifts, directed his executor to sell all the rest of his estate, and from the proceeds made a large number of pecuniary legacies, many of them to his nephews and nieces. The residuary disposition was as follows: "I give and bequeath unto Robert Knight, of said Providence, all the residue and remainder of my estate in trust to be managed by him to the best advantage, and to appropriate the income of the same for the support and maintenance of the aforenamed Julia Ann Maker, for and during her natural life; and, if the income thereof is not sufficient to give her a comfortable support and maintenance, then to use the principal for that purpose, to be at his discretion to do as he may think proper and right in regard to the matter; and, if there should be anything, remaining at the decease of said Julia Ann Maker, then I give and bequeath such residue and remainder to the aforenamed Mary S. Dean, her heirs and assigns, forever, provide the amount does not exceed three thousand dollars; and all over and above said three thousand dollars I give and bequeath to the children of my nephews and nieces aforenamed in equal proportions, including the children of said Julia Ann Maker, and the children of said Mary Field, deceased; and, if any of said children should die, then the proportion of such as shall die to go to their surviving brothers and sisters, in equal proportions to each." Robert Knight died, and Zechariah Chafee was by this court at its March term, A. D. 1869, appointed trustee in his place. Zechariah Chafee died March 30, A. D. 1889, testate, appointing his son Zechariah his executor, who, as such, took possession of the trust estate and managed it. He filed this bill for instructions after the death of Julia Ann Maker.

James Tillinghast and Theodore F. Tillinghast, for complainant.

Isaac H. Southwick, Jr., for respondent Thomas M. Rounds.

MATTESON, C. J. The court decides the questions submitted and instructs the complainant as follows:

1. That the legacy of $3,000, bequeathed to Mary S. (Dean) Bounds in the residuary clause of the will of Calvin Dean, vested in her on the death of the testator, although the payment of it was postponed until the death of Julia Ann Maker. The language of the bequest is: "If there should be anything remaining at the decease of said Julia Ann Maker, then I give and bequeath such residue and remainder to the aforenamed Mary S. Dean, her heirs and assigns, forever, provided the amount does not exceed three thousand dollars." A bequest after the death of a particular person, where an antecedent interest is given in the same will, is generally held not to denote a condition that the legatee shall survive such person, nor to define when the legacy shall vest, but only to mark the time when the gift shall take effect, in possession, that possession being deferred merely on account of the life interest limited to the person on whose death the gift is to take effect. Chew's Appeal, 37 Pa. St. 23; King v. King, 1 Watts & S. 205; Minnig v. Batdorff, 5 Pa. St. 506; Doe v. Considine, 6 Wall. 458; Johnson v. Valentine, 4 Sandf. 36; Rives v. Frizzle, 8 Ired. Eq. 237; Ferson v. Dodge, 23 Pick. 287. 292; Moore v. Dimond, 5 R. I. 121, 129; Rogers v. Rogers, 11 R. I. 38, 72. That Mary S. (Dean) Rounds, having died during the life of Julia Ann Maker, on August 25, 1886, and Julia Ann Maker having also died on February 15, 1891, said legacy of $3,000 is now payable to Thomas M. Rounds, administrator with the will annexed, upon the estate of the said Mary S. (Dean) Rounds. Woerner's American Law of Administration (volume 2, § 460) states it as a proposition requiring no demonstration that when a legatee dies after the testator's death his personal representative alone is entitled to collect his legacy, not his distributees. And see Purcelly v. Carter, 45 Ark. 299, 302. That interest on the $3,000 is payable from February 17, 1891, the day of the death of Julia Ann Maker, that being the date when the $3,000 became payable. The general rule is that interest is due from the time a legacy is payable. Hearle v. Greenbank, 3 Atl. 695, 716; Wordsworth v. Younger, 3 Ves. 73; Ballantyne v. Turner, 6 Jones, Eq. 224; Kent v. Dunham, 106 Mass. 586; Bradner v. Faulkner, 12 N. Y. 472; Lupton v. Lupton, 2 Johns. Ch. 614; Dodge v. Manning, 1 N. Y. 298; Wheeler v. Ruthven, 2 Redf. Sur. 491. And when the payment or a legacy is postponed by reason of an intervening estate, or other cause, beyond a year after the testator's death, it becomes payable immediately upon the accruing of the right, and interest is pavahle from that date. 2 Redf. Wills, (2d Ed.) 466; Laundy v. Williams, 2 P. Wms. 478, 481; Miller v. Philips, 5 Paige, 573. That, it appearing from the testimony submitted that the note of said Thomas M. Rounds and Mary S. Rounds for $1,500, secured by mortgage on the farm in North Kingston, purchased by and conveyed to said Mary S. Rounds, and the note of said Thomas M. Rounds for $117.50, indorsed by said Mary S. Rounds, held by the complainant as a part of the trust estate, were given on account of the purchase money for said farm, and were therefore equitably the debt of said Mary S. Rounds, the amount due on said notes may be retained by the complainant out of the $3,000 and interest payable to said Thomas M. Rounds, administrator, as aforesaid, for said legacy. Perkins v. Se Ipsam, 11 R. I. 270, 271; Armour v. Kendall, 15 R.I. 193, 194,2 Atl. Rep. 311.

2. That the word "aforenamed," in the latter part of the residuary clause of said will, refers to the words "nephews and nieces," immediately preceding, and not to the word "children." The provision is as follows: "And all over and above said three thousand dollars I give and bequeath to the children of my nephews and nieces aforenamed, in equal proportions, including the children of said Julia Ann Maker and the children of said Mary Field, deceased." To regard the word "aforenamed "as referring to the words" nephews and nieces" would be the obvious natural construction from the grammatical relation of the words. This construction is confirmed by a careful examination of the will as a whole. It was the evident scheme of the testator to treat his nephews and nieces, and also, in general, their children, and also including the children of Julia Ann Maker and Mary Field, alike. This appears from the fact that he gives to each of his nephews and nieces $1,000, and that with two exceptions, viz., the children of his niece Abigail Clark, deceased, and of his niece Maria Sampson, to each of whom he gives $633.33, he gives to each of the children of his nephews and nieces $300, and a like sum to each of the children of the said...