Freeland v. Freeland

Decision Date03 April 1880
Citation128 Mass. 509
CourtUnited States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court
PartiesMary D. Freeland v. Foster Freeland & others

Argued October 3, 1879

Worcester. Writ of dower by the widow of Freeman Freeland. The case was submitted to the Superior Court, and, after judgment for the tenants, to this court on appeal, on agreed facts, the material parts of which appear in the opinion.

Judgment affirmed.

W. S B. Hopkins, for the demandant.

H. B Staples, (F. P. Goulding with him,) for the tenants.

Soule J. Endicott & Lord, JJ., absent.

OPINION

Soule, J.

The tenants contend that the demandant's right to dower was barred by an antenuptial contract between her and Freeman Freeland. That contract was duly executed and recorded, and was made in view of the intended marriage of the parties, and recites and sets forth an agreement that both "shall retain their respective estates, with such as may hereafter accrue to them, separate and apart from the other, subject to the payment of their respective debts, with power to each to manage and dispose of their estate as they shall see fit, and at their decease to have the same descend to their respective heirs at law, or otherwise disposed of as they may respectively, by last will and testament, order and appoint. Provided always, that in case of the decease of the said Freeland, she, the said Mary, surviving him, there shall, within one year from the time of his decease, be paid to the said Mary the sum of fifteen hundred dollars as a proper debt against his estate." Then follow, "for the purpose of effecting the intention of said parties," the conveyance of the estate of the demandant to a trustee, on trusts consistent with the agreement set forth; and the covenant of Freeland with the trustee to allow him and the demandant to have the entire control of her estate, and to receive the rents and profits thereof to her separate use, and that he will do no act or thing to prevent the full execution of the trust; and his further covenants that, in case he should survive the demandant, he will allow her separate estate to go and descend to her heirs at law as if she were sole, or if she should make a will, that on her decease the same may be proved and allowed, and her estate be disposed of according thereto, and that his representatives shall pay the demandant, if she survive him, the sum of fifteen hundred dollars within one year after his decease. Then follow the proper covenants on the part of the trustee; and finally the covenant of the demandant that "upon the decease of the said Freeland, she surviving, she will by deed release all interest in his estate, excepting said claim of $ 1500."

This is a valid contract under the Gen. Sts. c. 108, §§ 27, 28, so far as it relates to the interest of either of the parties to the intended marriage in the estate of the other during the coverture. So far as it relates to the rights of the survivor in the estate of the other after the termination of the marriage relation by death, it is valid, independently of the statute. Jenkins v. Holt, 109 Mass. 261.

The demandant contends, however, that her dower is not barred by the contract, because she has never been paid the sum of fifteen hundred dollars...

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21 cases
  • Rieger v. Schaible
    • United States
    • Nebraska Supreme Court
    • March 5, 1908
    ...37 Ga. 296; Wentworth v. Wentworth, 69 Me. 247; Busey v. McCurley, 61 Md. 436, 48 Am. Rep. 117;Butman v. Porter, 100 Mass. 337;Freeland v. Freeland, 128 Mass. 509;Jenkins v. Holt, 109 Mass. 261;Miller v. Goodwin, 8 Gray (Mass.) 542;Vincent v. Spooner, 2 Cush. (Mass.) 467;Tarbell v. Tarbell,......
  • Rieger v. Schaible
    • United States
    • Nebraska Supreme Court
    • March 5, 1908
    ... ... Ga. 296; Wentworth v. Wentworth , 69 Me. 247; ... Busey v. McCurley , 61 Md. 436; Butman v ... Porter , 100 Mass. 337; Freeland v. Freeland , ... 128 Mass. 509; Jenkins v. Holt , 109 Mass. 261; ... Miller v. Goodwin , 8 Gray (Mass.) 542; Vincent ... v. Spooner , 2 Cush ... ...
  • Osborne v. Osborne
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court
    • November 13, 1981
    ...Rosenberg v. Lipnick, supra. Antenuptial contracts are recognized by statute and at common law. G. L. c. 209, §§ 25, 26. Freeland v. Freeland, 128 Mass. 509 (1880). Jenkins v. Holt, 109 Mass. 261 In many jurisdictions it has been held that an antenuptial contract made in contemplation of di......
  • Peaslee v. Peaslee
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court
    • June 19, 1888
    ...144. And these cases show that a bill for an injunction was the proper method of asserting this equitable right. So far as Freeland v. Freeland, 128 Mass. 509, decides that an equitable jointure is a legal bar to a of dower, it is not to be reconciled with the preceding cases. The proper co......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles
  • Insuring the knot: the Massachusetts approach to postnuptial agreements.
    • United States
    • Suffolk University Law Review Vol. 45 No. 2, March 2012
    • March 22, 2012
    ...See Simeone, 581 A.2d at 165 (applying traditional contract-review principles to premarital agreements). (29.) See Freeland v. Freeland, 128 Mass. 509, 510 (1880) (declaring couple's premarital contract relating to "estate of the other during the coverture" enforceable); see also Jenkins v.......

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