Hadley v. Forsee

• Decision Date: 28 March 1907
• Citation: 203 Mo. 418,101 S.W. 59
• Parties: HADLEY, Atty. Gen., v. FORSEE.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

101 S.W. 59

203 Mo. 418

HADLEY, Atty. Gen., v. FORSEE.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 1.

March 28, 1907.

CHARITIES — CHARITABLE BEQUESTS — DEFINITENESS.

Testator bequeathed all his property to his wife for life, she, after providing for her own wants, to give such amounts to testator's relations as she might think proper, and the balance to advance the cause of religion and promote the cause of charity in such a manner as the wife might think would be most conducive to carrying out testator's wishes, with authority to lease and sell property for the benefit of the estate. Held, that such provisions were insufficient to constitute a valid public charity, which could be enforced by a court of equity after the widow's death.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Buchanan County.

Suit by Herbert S. Hadley, Attorney General, against Zeilda Forsee. From a judgment in favor of defendant, plaintiff appeals. Affirmed.

J. W. Boyd and Brown & Dolman, for appellant. Eastin, Corby & Eastin and Scarritt, Scarritt & Jones, for respondent.

VALLIANT, P. J.

This is a suit in equity by the Attorney General to establish and enforce what is alleged in the petition to be a trust for public charity created by the will of John Corby, deceased, who died in 1870, leaving a large estate, real and personal, and leaving also a widow, but no child or other descendant. It is claimed in the petition that by the will the widow was given a life estate in the whole property, and the remainder was devised in trust for public charity. The will is copied in the petition in full, and the judgment to be pronounced in the case is to be based on the interpretation to be given the will. This will came before this court some years ago for interpretation, and the judgment of the court then was that the will gave the widow a life estate, but made no disposition of the remainder; that is, that, except as to the life estate to the widow, John Corby died intestate. Corby v. Corby, 85 Mo. 371. That suit was between the heirs at law of John Corby on the one side and the widow on the other. There was no party in the case representing the general public claiming that the will created a trust for public charity. After the decision in that case the heirs at law conveyed their interests in the estate to the widow, who thereupon assumed the absolute ownership of the whole property and, as the petition in this case states, sold large parts of the real estate, appropriated the proceeds to her own use, and reinvested part of the same in other real estate, taking the title in her own name. The widow died in 1899, leaving the defendant, her sister, her sole heir at law. The petition in this case, after setting out the will in full, states the plaintiff's theory of its legal effect; that is, that after the life estate to the widow the remainder was given in trust for charity. The defendant filed a general demurrer to the petition. The court sustained the demurrer, and, plaintiff declining to plead further, judgment for defendant was rendered, and the plaintiff appealed.

The decision in Corby v. Corby, above mentioned, was rendered in 1884, nearly 20 years before the filing of this suit. In view of the fact, as the petition informs us, that in those years there have been many sales and transfers of property belonging to the Corby estate, we should be careful to say nothing in this case to impair titles taken on the faith of the decision in that case, unless it becomes necessary in order to protect some interest that was not bound by that decision. What was decided, therefore, in that case, as between the parties to that suit and their privies, we will take as the law in this case, and we will now consider only the question as to whether a trust for charity is created by the will. The will is in these words:

"In the name of God, amen. I, John Corby, of the city of St. Joseph, county of Buchanan, and state of Missouri, being of sound mind and clear memory, and being fully aware of the uncertainty of life and the certainty of death, and being desirous of disposing of all my worldly goods and effects in such manner as I believe to be just and equitable, do declare the following to be my last will and testament:

"I do will and bequeath to my dearly beloved wife, Amanda Corby, all my property of every kind that I am possessed of, both real, personal and mixed, including all my lands, lots, tenements, improvements, and hereditaments, wherever situated; also I do hereby will and bequeath to my said wife, Amanda Corby, all of my money, notes, bonds, bank stock, insurance stocks, or any other evidence of debt and of money or property of every kind of character whatever, which I own or have any claim to, to have and to hold the same to her own use and benefit during her natural life, subject to the following conditions:

"First, that she will pay all of my just debts; secondly, that after providing for her own wants and comforts, I leave to the discretion of my dear wife to give to such of my relations such aid or assistance as my dear wife may, of her own will, think proper and just, hereby declaring that my relations have no claim of any kind upon me or upon any of my property, and anything that they may receive from my said wife, out of my effects, shall be in accordance with her sense of justice and in accordance with my wishes, the nature of which she has been advised by me during my life.

"Secondly. That the balance of my said property will be given to advance the cause of religion, and promote the cause of charity, in such manner as my dearly beloved wife may think will be most...