Woods' Estate, In re

• Citation: 149 A.2d 865,102 N.H. 59
• Parties: In re Clara E. WOODS' ESTATE.
• Decision Date: 07 April 1959
• Court: Supreme Court of New Hampshire

Page 865

149 A.2d 865

102 N.H. 59

In re Clara E. WOODS' ESTATE.

Supreme Court of New Hampshire.

Argued March 4, 1959.

Decided April 7, 1959.

Howard B. Lane, Keene (by brief and orally), for the administratrix.

Faulkner, Plaut & Hanna, Keene (N. Michael Plaut, Keene, orally) for Florence Cram and Doris Cocco, heirs of Clara E. Woods.

BLANDIN, Justice.

The basic question presented is whether Clara E. Woods took a vested interest in fee under the will of her sister, Elizabeth A. Luce, in certain real estate, so that upon her death it descended to Clara's heirs, Florence Cram and Doris Cocco, or whether it passed to Mrs. Luce's only daughter, Evelyn S. Deming. The answer depends on what the testatrix meant when, after bequeathing all the remainder of her estate in equal shares to her daughter and sister, she added the words: 'In case of the death of either * * * I give, bequeath and devise the share of such decedent to the survivor.' Although as administratrix of Mrs. Woods' estate, Mrs. Deming inventoried a ' 1/2 interest in Land and buildings' in the disputed real property, she presently claims this was error and that she takes it all as survivor under Mrs. Luce's will.

It is axiomatic that the law favors the early vesting of interests (Merchants National Bank v. Curtis, 98 N.H. 225, 230, 97 A.2d 207; 57 Am.Jur., Wills, § 1218, p. 803) in the interest of certainty, the avoidance of complications, and the expeditious settlement of estates. Furthermore, the common meaning attributed to words of survivorship is that they refer to the death of the devisee in the lifetime of the testatrix. Whitney v. Whitney, 45 N.H. 311; Annotation 51 A.L.R.2d 205. The practical difficulties of applying the construction urged by the administratrix, especially with reference to the disposition of personal estate, are obvious and militate against her claim. Cowan v. Cowan, 90 N.H. 198, 201, 6 A.2d 179. Furthermore, the words appear in themselves significant. Since death is certain, there seems no point in using the words 'In case' unless they were intended to refer to the death of either of the devisees before that of the testatrix. Annotation 51 A.L.R.2d at page 206, supra.

We are not unmindful of the administratrix's argument that Mrs. Luce's main concern was her sister, Clara, and her daughter, the administratrix, and that since she did not mention her brother, Samuel Luce, and another sister, Florence Cram, it must have been her intent that neither they nor their children should share in her estate. We agree that her real interest was in her daughter and her sister Clara, but had she been desirous of...