Schneider's Will, In re
Decision Date | 08 February 1955 |
Citation | 68 N.W.2d 576,268 Wis. 610 |
Parties | In re WILL of Louis C. SCHNEIDER a/k/a Ludwig C. Schneider, Deceased. Louis J. SCHNEIDER, Appellant, v. Janet WELCH et al., Respondents. |
Court | Wisconsin Supreme Court |
Proceeding for construction of paragraph Sixth of a will.
Louis C. Schneider died testate May 8, 1952. He was survived by a son, Louis J. Schneider, and by his daughter, respondent Janet Welch. By his will, dated November 10, 1950, Mr. Schneider devised to Janet his home, appraised at $17,000, and devised to his son business real estate appraised at $20,000, bequeathed to the son an automobile, appraised at $750, and forgave any debts owed by the son to the testator at the date of the latter's death. (It appears there were none.) $1,000 was bequeathed in trust for each of Louis J. Schneider's four children and $1,000 for each of Janet's three. There was another legacy of $1,000 to a niece and the residue of the distributable estate, estimated to be about $55,000, was disposed of as follows:
'Sixth: All of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, of every kind and nature, of which I may die seized or possessed, I bequeath unto my trustee hereinafter named in trust for the benefit of my daughter Janet Welch for a period of five years after my death, she to be entitled to receive the income thereof during said period.
'In the event of the death of my said daughter Janet prior to the expiration of said five years said trust shall continue in force until the youngest of her said children shall reach the age of twenty-one years, when the corpus of said trust shall be divided as follows, to-wit:
'The remaining 50% to the children of Janet Welch who survive her, in equal shares.'
Respondent First Wisconsin Trust Company was the trustee of said trusts named in the will.
This proceeding was brought to determine what happens to the residuary estate treated by paragraph Sixth of the will if, at the end of five years following the death of Mr. Schneider, his daughter, Janet, is alive. The trial court answered the question as follows:
'* * * It Is Therefore, Ordered, Adjudged and Decreed, That the said testator, Louis C. Schneider, intended to, and that he did, dispose of his entire estate by the provisions of his said Last Will and Testament and that he intended thereby that none of his estate should be left to be disposed of as intestate property, and that his said last will and testament should be, and it hereby is, construed to read in the manner following: That by paragraph Sixth of said will said testator intended to, and that he did, thereby establish the residue of his estate in trust for the benefit of his daughter, Janet Welch; that she shall receive the income therefrom for the period of five years after his death; and that, if she survives said five year period and is still living at the expiration thereof she shall then be entitled to receive, and the said trustee shall then turn over and deliver to her, all of the corpus of said residue and the said trust shall thereupon terminate and the estate of the trustee therein shall cease.'
Louis J. Schneider has appealed. Janet Welch, her children, and the trustee are respondents.
Hanley & Wedemeyer, Milwaukee, George J. Mangan, Milwaukee, of counsel, for appellant.
Reginald I. Kenney, Milwaukee, guardian ad litem for Schneider minors.
Churchill, Duback & Churchill, Milwaukee, for Janet Welch.
Clarence J. Bullock, Milwaukee, for First Wis. Trust Co.
Allen Williams, Milwaukee, guardian ad litem for Welch minors.
Appellant contends that the will makes no provision for distribution of the trust estate in the contingency in question and, therefore, in that contingency there is a partial intestacy which requires that distribution of the residue be made to the testator's heirs at law,--himself and Janet,--equally. He points out that the only express provision for Janet in paragraph Sixth is that she shall have the income of the trust fund for five years after the testator's death, if she lives so long, and he asserts that the construction of paragraph Sixth by the trial court results in an...
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