Chappell v. Missionary Society of Churches of Christ in Indiana

• Decision Date: 19 January 1892
• Docket Number: 468
• Citation: 29 N.E. 924,3 Ind.App. 356
• Parties: CHAPPELL, ADMINISTRATOR, v. THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN INDIANA
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

29 N.E. 924

3 Ind.App. 356

CHAPPELL, ADMINISTRATOR, v. THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN INDIANA

No. 468

Court of Appeals of Indiana

January 19, 1892

From the Pike Circuit Court.

Judgment affirmed, with costs.

E. P Richardson and A. H. Taylor, for appellant.

E. A Ely and S. G. Davenport, for appellee.

OPINION

ROBINSON, C. J.

Appellee filed in the court below its petition asking for an order on appellant to pay it the sum of five hundred dollars bequeathed by the decedent in her last will and testament.

Appellant demurred to the petition, which was overruled, and exception taken.

There was a trial by the court, and finding and judgment for the appellee, ordering the appellant to pay the appellee the legacy as prayed for in the petition.

Under the assignment of error but one question is presented, which is the alleged error of the court in overruling the demurrer to the complaint or petition.

A copy of the will of the testatrix was filed with and made a part of the petition. That part of the will under which appellee claimed the bequest reads as follows, to wit:

"Second. That after paying all my just debts and funeral expenses, I bequeath to the Christian Missionary Society of this State five hundred dollars, the balance to be equally divided between my legal heirs."

The material facts stated in the petition were, "that Hannah Chappell departed this life testate; that her will was probated January 19th, 1883; that by the terms of her will she bequeathed to the appellee, by the name of the Christian Missionary Society of this State, five hundred dollars; that the appellee was the missionary society named in said will; that at the time said will was made, and for a long time before, and until the day of said Hannah Chappell's death, she was a member of the Church of Christ in Indiana, commonly called and known as the 'Christian Church;' that the appellee was, during all of said time, the only missionary society of said church in Indiana, and during all of said time commonly called the Christian Missionary Society of this State, and was as well known by said name as its true and legal name of 'Missionary Society of the Churches of Christ in Indiana;' that the appellee was the legatee named in said will, and was entitled to receive said sum so bequeathed to it."

It was then shown that the administrator with the will annexed had sold the real estate mentioned in the will as therein directed, and had in his hands sufficient after paying all debts of said estate, funeral expenses and cost of administration, to pay said bequest in full, but neglected and refused to pay the same, although often requested so to do. Wherefore prayer for an order, etc., requiring said administrator, etc., to show cause why said bequest should not be paid, etc.

The grounds of objection made to the will are that the bequest is void for uncertainty, and that this is made to appear by the petition; that the bequest was made to the "Christian Missionary Society of this State," when the true and legal name of that society was alleged to be the Missionary Society of the Churches of Christ in Indiana; that there was nothing upon the face of the will showing a mistake, and that extrinsic evidence could not be resorted to for the purpose of showing that the appellee was the society intended in said bequest.

The doctrine has been declared by the Supreme Court of this State, that "in the construction of a will the primary object is to discover and give effect to the intention of the testator, as it appears upon and is gathered from the words found in the instrument, and, although the testator's purpose must have been expressed in a manner conformable to the rules by which rights of property are secured and established, the law will not suffer his intention to be defeated merely because it may not have been declared with completeness, or with technical accuracy." Skinner v. Harrison Tp., 116 Ind. 139, 18 N.E. 529; Van Gorder v. Smith, 99 Ind. 404.

The averments in the petition that the appellee was the missionary society mentioned in the will, that the testatrix was at the time of making said will, for a long time before and until her death, a member of the Church of Christ, in Indiana, commonly called the Christian Church, and that during all of said time the appellee was the only missionary society of said church in Indiana, and that it was as well known by the name of the Christian Missionary Society of this State as by its true and legal name of Missionary Society of the Churches of Christ in Indiana, and was commonly called the Christian Missionary Society in this State,--were facts proper...