Millikin Nat. Bank of Decatur v. Wilson

• Decision Date: 18 February 1931
• Docket Number: No. 20273.,20273.
• Citation: 174 N.E. 857,343 Ill. 55
• Parties: MILLIKIN NAT. BANK OF DECATUR et al. v. WILSON et al.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

343 Ill. 55

174 N.E. 857

MILLIKIN NAT. BANK OF DECATUR et al.

v.WILSON et al.

No. 20273.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Feb. 18, 1931.

Suit by the Millikin National Bank of Decatur and another, as executors of the last will and testament of Rachel R. Gallagher Brown, deceased, against Kathryn J. Wilson and others. From the decree, complainants appeal.

Reversed and remanded, with directions.Appeal from Circuit Court, Macon County; James S. Baldwin, judge.

McMillen, McMillen & Garman, of Decatur, for appellants.

DE YOUNG, J.

The Millikin National Bank of Decatur and Arthur J. Gallagher, as executors of the last will and testament of Rachel R. Gallagher Brown, deceased, filed their bill in the circuit court of Macon county for the construction of certain provisions of the testatrix' will and for the court's directions concerning the payment of certain bequests. Answers were filed by Arthur J. Gallagher individually and the Salvation Army, one of the legatees. All the other defendants failed to answer the bill, and a decree pro confesso was rendered against them. The cause was referred to a master in chancery who heard the evidence and reported his findings. The chancellor modified a portion of these findings and rendered a decree construing the will, appointing trustees, and directing the payment of particular legacies. From that decree the executors prosecute this appeal.

Rachel R. Gallagher Brown, a widow, resided in Los Angeles, Cal., and died on November 7, 1928. She left surviving Arthur J. Gallagher, her son and only child, several brothers and sisters, and twenty-two nephews and nieces. The son was a bachelor. Her estate consisted of 1,240 acres of land in Macon and Piatt counties, Ill., $40,000 in United States government bonds, $8,000 in real estate mortgages, $16,000 in collectible promissory notes, and certain goods and chattels. The will was admitted to record by the county court of Macon county, and letters testamentary were issued to the appellants.

The testatrix, by the second paragraph of her will, directed the payment of her debts and funeral expenses, by the fourth, seventh, and eighth paragraphs bequeathed legacies aggregating $4,000, and by the tenth made a bequest of her jewelry and wearing apparel. The executors sought the circuit court's construction of the third, fifth, sixth, and ninth paragraphs of the will which, respectively, are as follows:

‘I give and bequeath to my dear sister Kathryn J. Wilson, residing at the date hereof, at 1403 South Burlington street, city of Los Angeles, State of California, to be paid to her monthly on the first day of each and every month during her lifetime, the sum of one hundred dollars, such payments to be made from the interest received from the bonds of the United States belonging to my estate or if this source of income should cease then these monthly payments to the said Kathryn J. Wilson, of one hundred dollars, shall be paid from the accruing interest from said real estate mortgage notes of a sufficient amount to produce, in interest, the said amount of monthly payments of one hundred dollars, and my executors are hereby instructed to maintain such an amount of real estate mortgage notes as will produce a sufficient amount for such monthly payments.

‘I give and bequeath to the Salvation Army organization the sum of five thousand dollars.

‘I give and bequeath to the Knights of Columbus of Los Angeles the sum of five thousand dollars.

‘I give and bequeath to my son, Arthur J. Gallagher, after the bequests hereinbefore mentioned are paid and the monthly income of one hundred dollars to my beloved sister Kathryn J. Wilson has been securely provided for, all the income from the residuary of my estate, real, personal and mixed which I shall die, seized and possessed or to which I shall be entitled at my decease consisting in part of all lands in the State of Illinois and all real estate wherever situated and all personal property of every character and kind for his use and benefit during his life, and in the event of his death the said income from my said estate shall inure to the use and benefit of his widow, and in the event of the death of his widow then to his children during their lives, and after all the bequests hereinbefore enumerated have been executed and terminated then the residuary estate shall be divided equally share and share alike to all my nephews and nieces living at that time. I leave nothing to my brothers and sisters because I helped them when they were young and needed help.’

It appears from the evidence that chapter 621 of the Knights of Columbus was the only chapter of that organization in the city of Los Angeles at the time the will was executed, but that the number had increased to seven when the testatrix died. The circuit court, by its decree, found that it was the intention of the testatrix, by the fifth paragraph of her will, to bequeath to the Salvation Army of Los Angeles, Cal., and to the Salvation Army of Decatur, Ill., each the sum of $2,500; that by the sixth paragraph she intended to bequeath to Chapter 621 of the Knights of Columbus of Los Angeles, Cal., the sum of $5,000; that by the third and ninth paragraphs she intended to bequeath the personal property which remained after the payment of her debts, the legacies mentioned in the fourth, seventh, eighth, and tenth paragraphs of her will, and the costs and expenses of administering her estate, to the Millikin National Bank and Arthur J. Gallagher as trustees, but that she failed expressly to designate them as such; that she intended that they, as trustees, should hold the residue of the property during the lives of Kathryn J. Wilson and Arthur J. Gallagher and the life of their survivor, and out of the income therefrom, after defraying the cost of the trusteeship, first pay to Kathryn J. Wilson $100 per month during her life and the remainder to Arthur J. Gallagher during his life, and, upon the death of the survivor, divide the trust estate, with its accumulations, if any, among the nephews and nieces of the testatrix then living as a class; that by the provision of the ninth paragraph of the will, ‘and in the event of his death the said income from my estate shall inure to the use and benefit of his widow, and in the event of the death of his widow then to his children during their lives,’ the testatrix contemplatedthe death of her son prior to her death, in which event his widow, child, or children were to be substituted, but that, since the son survived the testatrix, the widow, child, or children whom he might leave surviving should take no interest under the will, and that, subject to the life estate of the son, all the nephews and nieces of the testatrix who lived at the time of her death had as a class a vested interest in her real estate, subject to divestiture as to any nephew or niece who might die after the death of the testatrix and prior to the death of her son and subject to be opened to admit any nephews or nieces of the testatrix born within that period. No complaint is made on this appeal of the division of the legacy of five thousand dollars between the Salvation Army of Los Angeles, Cal., and the Salvation Army of Decatur, Ill.

It is contended that the bequest to the Knights of Columbus of Los Angeles, Cal., is indefinite because at the time the will was executed only one chapter, 621, of that organization existed in Los Angeles, while at the time of the testatrix' death there were seven chapters of the same organization in that city. The evidence fails to disclose that the testatrix ever manifested any particular interest in Chapter 621 of the Knights of Columbus as a distinct body. An intention to aid the entire membership of the Knights of Columbus in Los Angeles is more consistent with the language of the will. Such an intention could not be effected if the whole legacy were paid to the particular chapter which existed when the will was executed. A gift by will to a class takes effect at the death of the testator or testatrix, unless otherwise directed in the will. Lancaster v. Lancaster, 187 Ill. 540, 58 N. E. 462,79 Am. St. Rep. 234;McCartney v. Osburn, 118 Ill. 403, 9 N. E. 210. The chancellor erred in directing that the legacy in question be paid solely to Chapter 621 of the Knights of Columbus of Los Angeles. It should be paid to the various chapters of the organization in that city in proportion to their memberships on the day of the death of the testatrix.

The appellants contend that only so much of the personal property as will assure an income sufficient to pay the annuity to Kathryn J. Wilson should be retained in trust, and that the circuit court erred in requiring all of the personal property, after the payment of debts, legacies, and expenses of administration, to be held in trust for that purpose. The testatrix neither required nor contemplated that the whole of the residue of her personal property should...