O'Gorman v. Crowley

• Decision Date: 14 March 1913
• Citation: 86 A. 442,81 N.J.Eq. 520
• Parties: O'GORMAN et al. v. CROWLEY et al.
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

86 A. 442

81 N.J.Eq. 520

O'GORMAN et al.

v. CROWLEY et al.

Court of Errors and Appeals of New Jersey.

March 14, 1913.

Appeal from Court of Chancery.

Bill by Richard O'Gorman and others against Mary Crowley and others. Decree for complainants (83 Atl. 379), and certain defendants appeal. Affirmed.

Frank H. Sommer, of Newark, and John P. Hill, of Baltimore, Md., for appellants.

Howe & Davis, of Orange, for respondents.

PER CURIAM. David Ledwith, a resident of the county of Essex, died in 1901, leaving a will, one of the provisions of which was as follows: "I give and bequeath to my executors hereinafter named the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, in trust, to keep the same safely invested and to pay the income therefrom to my son James Herbert Ledwith during the term of his natural life; but I authorize and empower my executors to terminate said trust and to pay to my said son the said sum of twenty-five thousand dollars whenever in the opinion of my executors his mental and physical condition is such that he is competent to attend to affairs. If, however, my said son shall die during the continuance of said trust and prior to the payment to him of said twenty-five thousand dollars I direct that said sum of twenty-five thousand dollars shall be paid to his issue then living, and if there be no issue of my said son then living said sum of twenty-five thousand dollars shall fall back into and become part and parcel of my residuary estate and shall be disposed of as directed in the fourth clause of this my will." By the fourth clause of his will the testator gave his residuary estate to his niece, Mary Crowley.

James Herbert Ledwith died without issue in 1910, leaving a will by which he devised his property in trust for the benefit of certain persons therein designated. The executors of David Ledwith, in the exercise of the discretion conferred upon them by his will, retained in their hands during the lifetime of his son, James Herbert, the $25,000 disposed of by the paragraph in that instrument, which has already been recited. Upon the death of the son, the testator's niece, Mary Crowley, claimed to be entitled to it as the legatee of David Ledwith; the legatees under the will of James Herbert Ledwith also claim to be entitled to the fund. In this condition of affairs, the executors and trustees under the David Ledwith will filed their bill in the court of chancery praying the advice of that court as to which of the rival claimants were by the...