Barnes v. Johnston

84 N.E. 610, 233 Ill. 620
Illinois Supreme Court·Decided April 23, 1908·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

Mr. Chief Justice Hand

delivered the opinion of the court:

The first contention of the appellants is, that the entire estate of Albert G. Barnes vested in his four living children and the children of Albert T. Barnes, deceased, upon his death, and that the holding of the trial court in the first case that the residuary estate, which was disposed of by paragraph io of the original will, did not vest in the devisees named in said will until the period of distribution had arrived, is erroneous. We think it clear, if the entire will, including the three codicils of Albert G. Barnes, deceased, be considered, that the holding of the chancellor in that case was correct. The testator, by the preceding paragraphs of his will and the codicils thereto, had made provision for his widow and his living children and the children of his deceased son, Albert T. Barnes, and by paragraph io of the will he directed his executors to convert the balance of his estate not specifically disposed of by his will, into money, and after the payment of the legacies provided for to be paid by the will, and the making of certain investments directed to be made and the payment of the expenses of administering upon his estate, he directed if any estate should remain it should be equally divided between his children, and if either of said children should then be deceased, leaving him surviving a child or children of his body, such child or children should take the share of the deceased parent, otherwise the deceased child’s share should go, under the terms of the will, to his surviving sons and daughters. The testator directed by said paragraph io of the original will that the estate remaining, if any, after the payment of the -legacies, etc., should be divided among his four children and the children of Albert T. Barnes, and in case of the death of a child before the period of distribution had arrived, what then remained of that portion of his estate, if any, should be divided, the share of a deceased child to go to the child or children.of his body, if he left a child or children him surviving.

In People v. Jennings, 44 Ill. 488, the testator provided his real estate should be sold by his executors as soon after his death as convenient, and the proceeds thereof, after the payment of his debts, funeral expenses, etc., should be equally divided among his four children, and in case of the death of a child, the child or children of the deceased child should take the share of the parent. One of the children died before the land was converted into money, leaving a widow and child, and it was held that the deceased child took no vested interest in the parent’s estate, and that the interest which it represented in its parent’s estate, upon the sale of the land went to the children of the deceased child, and that the widow of the deceased child took no interest therein. This case was approved by this court in Starr v. Willoughby, 218 Ill. 485, and we think it is decisive of the question that the share of the estate represented by Benjamin L. Barnes Will vest in his daughter, Lillian Barnes, if she be living when the estate is distributed, freed from any claim therein of her mother, Gertrude Barnes. To the same effect are Johnson v. Askey, 190 Ill. 58, Banta v. Boyd, 118 id. 186, and Ebey v. Adams, 135 id. 80.

In the Starr case the will provided that as soon as practicable after the testator’s decease all of the real estate not specifically devised should be sold, and the proceeds, after purchasing a home for the widow, divided among such children “as may be living at that time,” and it was held the words quoted referred to the time of distribution and not to the time of the death of the testator, and that the children of the testator took no vested interest in that portion of the estate before the time of distribution which they could dispose of by will.

While the law favors the vesting of estates and will fix the time at which they vest at the time of the death of the testator rather than at the period of distribution, when, however, it appears from the entire will that it was not the intention of the testator that the remainder should vest at the time of his death but at the period of distribution, such intention will be carried out by the courts. (Johnson v. Askey, supra.) It is apparent, we think, that the residtie of the estate of Albert G. Barnes, deceased, disposed of by paragraph 10 of his will, did not vest in his devisees until after the estate was converted by his executors into money and the period of distribution had arrived.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Barnes v. Johnston, 84 N.E. 610, 233 Ill. 620 (Ill. 1908).

84 N.E. 610 (Barnes v. Johnston) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Mueller v. Forsyth
235 N.E.2d 645 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1968)
Robinson v. Smith
86 N.E.2d 538 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1949)
Ayars v. Doyle
166 Ill. App. 414 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1911)
Perrine v. Reed
155 Ill. App. 213 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1910)