Maxwell v. Sawyer

• Decision Date: 15 May 1895
• Citation: 90 Wis. 352,63 N.W. 283
• Parties: MAXWELL v. SAWYER.
• Court: Wisconsin Supreme Court

90 Wis. 352

63 N.W. 283

MAXWELL

v.SAWYER.

Supreme Court of Wisconsin.

May 15, 1895.

Appeal from circuit court, Dodge county; A. Scott Sloan, Judge.

Action by Angelina Maxwell against B. F. Sawyer, executor, for the construction of a will. From a judgment for defendant, plaintiff appeals. Affirmed.

This is a proceeding begun in the county court of Dodge county by petition of Angelina M. Maxwell for construction of the will of William L. Maxwell, deceased. Angelina M. Maxwell was the wife of the deceased up to the 9th day of December, 1884, when a judgment of absolute divorce was rendered in an action brought by William L. Maxwell. This judgment contained the following provisions on the subject of alimony: “It is further adjudged that the plaintiff forthwith pay to the attorney for the defendant, for her as alimony, twenty-one hundred dollars, and to her, as further alimony, the further sum of two hundred dollars, on the first day of January, 1885, and the further sum of four hundred dollars on the first day of July, 1885, and the like sum of four hundred dollars on the first day of each and every six months from said first day of July, 1885. It is further adjudged that, to secure the payment of said semiannual allowance of alimony of $400, Geo. Jess & Co., bankers, of Waupun, Wis., are hereby constituted and appointed trustees to take hold of the following securities, to wit: The plaintiff shall forthwith execute to said Geo. Jess & Co. a mortgage in trust on his homestead in the city of Waupun, Wis., and shall forthwith deposit with them, and keep on deposit with them, for the same purpose, at least six thousand dollars, face value, of good notes secured by good real-estate mortgages.” William L. Maxwell died October 10, 1892, leaving a will, which was duly admitted to probate, December 6, 1892, and of which will the respondent, Sawyer, is the duly-qualified and acting executor. By this will the testator provided for the payment of certain bequests amounting to $26,000, and then made the following provision: “All the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate, real and personal, I give, devise, and bequeath to Benjamin F. Sawyer, of Waupun, Wisconsin, to have and to hold the same as executor and trustee, and his successor in trust and office. In trust, however, for the following uses and purposes, namely: To hold, manage, collect, invest, sell, convey, and dispose of the same at his discretion and best judgment, and out of the...