Hall v. Crandall

• Decision Date: 13 June 1941
• Citation: 25 Del.Ch. 339,20 A.2d 545
• Court: Court of Chancery of Delaware
• Parties: ANNIE H. HALL, Administratrix de bonis non cum testamento annexo of James P. Hoffecker, deceased, v. SARAH CRANDALL, HELEN OAKLEY, JOSEPH V. HOFFECKER, WILFRED H. EATON, LUCIA EATON, HORACE H. SMITH, CLARA B. SMITH, GERTRUDE H. LEECH and ELIZABETH H. WALKER

20 A.2d 545

25 Del.Ch. 339

ANNIE H. HALL, Administratrix de bonis non cum testamento annexo of James P. Hoffecker, deceased, v. SARAH CRANDALL, HELEN OAKLEY, JOSEPH V. HOFFECKER, WILFRED H. EATON, LUCIA EATON, HORACE H. SMITH, CLARA B. SMITH, GERTRUDE H. LEECH and ELIZABETH H. WALKER

Court of Chancery of Delaware, Kent

June 13, 1941

BILL TO CONSTRUE THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT of James P Hoffecker, deceased.

Mr Hoffecker died a resident of Smyrna, Kent County, Delaware on December 30th, 1908. Prior to his death, he executed a paper writing, bearing date October 8th, 1906, which purported to be his last will and testament, and which, after his death, was duly proved and allowed as such by the Register of Wills for Kent County.

In and by items sixth, eighth and ninth of that instrument, James P Hoffecker devised and bequeathed all the residue of his estate, both real and personal, to his wife Mary L Hoffecker, for and during the term of her natural life, or so long as she should remain his widow, and named her the executrix of his will. In the seventh item of that instrument, he provided:

"Upon the death or remarriage of my said wife, I give, devise and bequeath all the said remainder of my estate to the following of my nephews and nieces, share and share alike, and in case any of the said devisees shall be dead at the time of the final disposition of my said estate, I hereby direct that the share of such as are dead shall be paid to their heirs, if they should have heirs or to their widows, if they should have widows without issue, Walter O. Hoffecker, John A. Hoffecker, James Edwin Hoffecker, Annie H. Hall, Mary C. Handy, Laura A. Bell, Roland W. Bell, Alice Eaton, Helen Oakley, Luther R. Hoffecker, Sarah Crandall, Eugenia Hoffecker Smith, Emily Bell Huffington, E. Wilmer Collins, Nellie C. Collins, Emily H. Ironside and the children of Frank C. Bell."

The said Mary L. Hoffecker did not remarry, and died March 31st, 1936. Letters of administration d. b. n. c. t. a. on the estate of James P. Hoffecker were then granted to Annie H. Hall, the complainant, whose duty it was to distribute his estate to the persons entitled thereto.

Emily Bell Huffington, one of the devisees and legatees named in the said seventh item of Mr. Hoffecker's will, was living at the time of his death on December 30, 1908, but died August 13, 1935, prior to the death of the said Mary L. Hoffecker, the life tenant. Emily Bell Huffington left no lineal blood descendants, but on September 8, 1909, she legally adopted a child, Carrie Harrison, whose name, pursuant to the order of adoption entered by the Orphans' Court for New Castle County, became Elizabeth Huffington. The said Elizabeth Huffington later married and became Elizabeth H. Walker, and is one of the respondents in this proceeding.

The said Emily Bell Huffington also left to survive her the following blood relatives, all of whom were living at the death of Mrs. Hoffecker: two sisters, Sarah Crandall and Helen Oakley; Joseph V. Hoffecker, the only child of Luther A. Hoffecker, a deceased brother; Wilfred H. Eaton, one of the two children of Alice Eaton, a deceased sister, and Lucia Eaton, the only child of Lucian A. Eaton, deceased, who was also a son of the said Alice Eaton; Horace H. Smith, Clara B. Smith and Gertrude H. Leech, the children of Eugenia H. Smith, a deceased sister.

All of the above relatives of the said Emily Bell Huffington were of full age except the said Lucia Eaton, who was an infant of the age of about nine years.

At the death of the widow of the said James P. Hoffecker, deceased, all of his property was converted into cash, and the complainant, his administratrix d. b. n. c. t. a., had in hand for distribution $ 37,101.48. If the said Emily Bell Huffington had survived Mrs. Hoffecker her share of that sum would have been $ 2,182.44.

The pertinent provisions of the adoption statute in effect at the time of the death of Mrs. Hoffecker (Chap. 162, Vol. 38, Laws of Delaware, as amended by Chapter 212, Vol. 40, Laws of Delaware) will appear in the opinion of the court.

Answers were filed by Helen Oakley, Sarah Crandall, Wilfred H. Eaton, Horace H. Smith and Elizabeth H. Walker.

A guardian ad litem was appointed for Lucia Eaton; but no answer was filed on her behalf.

Decrees pro confesso were entered against Clara B. Smith, Gertrude H. Leech, Joseph V. Hoffecker and Lucia Eaton, because of their failure to file answers.

William M. Hope, for complainant.

Melvin Hopkins, for respondents Sarah Crandall and others.

William Poole, for Elizabeth H. Walker.

OPINION

THE CHANCELLOR:

James P. Hoffecker bequeathed and devised the remainder of his estate, on the death or remarriage of his wife, the life beneficiary, to certain named nephews and nieces "share and share alike."

The seventh item of his will further provided:

"* * * and in case any of the said devisees shall be dead at the time of the final disposition of my estate, I hereby direct that the share of such as are dead shall be paid to their heirs, if they should have heirs, or to their widows, if they should have widows without issue."

Some years after James P. Hoffecker had executed his will, and, in fact, after his death, Emily Bell Huffington, one of the ultimate legatees named in that instrument, legally adopted a child, Carrie Harrison. The said Emily Bell Huffington died before the death of Mrs. Hoffecker without leaving any children or other descendants of her own blood. She was, however, survived by two sisters; by the three children of a deceased sister; by the child and grandchild of another deceased sister; and by the only son of a deceased brother. She was likewise survived by her adopted daughter, who subsequently married, and whose name is now Elizabeth H. Walker. All of these persons were living at the time of the death of Mrs. Hoffecker.

Under these facts, the questions specifically raised by the prayers of the complainant's bill, and on which she seeks instructions, are: (1) Whether the adopted daughter of Emily Bell Huffington can be said to be her heir within the meaning of the substitution provision of Mr. Hoffecker's will; or, if not, (2) whether her blood relatives, who are not lineal descendants, can be classed as her heirs. The last question presented is, therefore, a wholly different one from whether Emily Bell Huffington's adopted daughter could inherit from her, as her heir. Nor are we considering whether an adopted child of a testator would be included in a bequest to his heirs.

In construing a will, the intent of the testator is the fundamental question to be determined. Maloney v. Johnson, 24 Del. Ch. 77, 5 A.2d 660; In re Mitchell's Will, 157 Wis. 327, 147 N.W. 332. In most cases, it must be ascertained from the language used; but in cases of real doubt, pertinent surrounding circumstances may also be considered. Maloney v. Johnson, supra. Independent of any such circumstances, when the substitution devise or bequest to the "heirs" of deceased devisees or legatees "if they should have heirs" is read in connection with the provision for the benefit of their widows "if they should have widows without issue," it is difficult to escape the conclusion that the word "heirs" is used in the sense of children, or, at least, of lineal descendants in some degree.

Whatever the primary meaning of the word "heirs" may ordinarily be (69 C. J. 208), when clearly a word of purchase it is frequently used in the sense of children. Simes Future Interest, § 418; 1 Bouv. Law Dict., Rawles Third Rev., Heir, p. 1432; 29 C. J. 299. Perhaps this is largely because the average layman is apt to regard it as having that meaning. Simes Future Interest, § 418.

Moreover the word "issue" ordinarily means "descendants. All persons who have descended from a common ancestor." 1 Bouv. Law Dict., Rawles Third Rev., Issue, p. 1686. The same...