Brown v. Brackney

12 N.E.2d 710, 293 Ill. App. 373, 1938 Ill. App. LEXIS 508
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJanuary 17, 1938
DocketGen. No. 9,079
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 12 N.E.2d 710 (Brown v. Brackney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brown v. Brackney, 12 N.E.2d 710, 293 Ill. App. 373, 1938 Ill. App. LEXIS 508 (Ill. Ct. App. 1938).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Riess

delivered the opinion of the court.

Appellant, Katie Brackney, filed objections in the county court of Edgar county, Illinois,, to three items of credit taken ill the final report of Guy C. Brown, execiitor of the last will and testament óf Eli Brown, deceased, wherein she, was named as a legatee. From the order of said court sustaining in part and overruling the remainder of the objections, appeal was taken by her to the circuit court of said county, wherein an order was entered contrary in substance to her contentions, from which order she has appealed to this court.

Eli Brown died testate at Redmon in said county on May 21, 1935, leaving a last will and testament dated March 5, 1929, and a codicil thereto dated September 12, 1934, which were duly admitted to probate. His real estate described in the will and inventory consisted of 240 acres of farm land and a small residence and six-acre pasture lot, which latter were situated in the Village of Redmon in said county. The personal estate, consisting principally of household and farm chattels and products, rentals, and utility stocks, were sold and converted into cash by the executor in the amount of $2,028.39, in addition to a small cash balance in bank. As directed in the will, the executor also sold the house and six-acre tract of land situated in the Village of Redmon which was inventoried at $3,000, but actually so sold for $1,146, and his final report showed gross receipts from the personal estate and Redmon property so converted into cash of $3,197.28. Credits were taken in the executor’s report for $2,235.17, including the three disputed items of credit aggregating $1,173.30 and leaving a controverted balance of $962.11 to be paid to appellant less $79.53 State inheritance tax on an allegedly abated $3,000 legacy.

The county court sustained objections to part of the disputed items and directed the executor to pay appellant $1,814.52 in full payment of said abated legacy. The circuit court, on appeal, overruled the objections to all credits above the amount of $1,146, the proceeds of sale of the Redmon property, which was held to be a special fund out of which said legacy became payable, and further held that the personal estate was primarily liable for the debts and costs of administration of the estate and that the farm lands specifically devised in the will to four children were not ratably chargeable with the payment of said debts as contended by appellant.

No errors were assigned to the action of the circuit court in overruling all objections to payments made by the executor for which credits had been taken in his account, and no cross-errors were assigned thereon. The errors assigned concern only the construction of the provisions of the will relative to the payment of debts of the estate and the legacy payable to appellant under the terms of the will.

Paragraph one of the will of Eli Brown ordered and directed “that my executor hereinafter named pay all my just debts and funeral expenses as soon after my decease as may conveniently be. ’ ’

Paragraph two provided a life estate “subject to provisions of paragraph one” to his wife, Savilla A. Brown, who was then living, in all of his real estate and personal property and then provided that at her death the executor should sell the real estate consisting of the residence and pasture lot in the Village of Redmon “and all my personalty remaining at the death of my said wife” and out of the proceeds thereof and of money on hand or collected together with $1,000 to be paid by Guy C. Brown, devisee (which latter provision was, however, adeemed in the codicil) and pay to Katie Brackney or her heirs a legacy of $3,000, and from any remaining money, pay any remaining mortgage indebtedness on the farm lands and then divide any remainder “after all debts are paid” among the four children to whom the farm is specifically devised.

Paragraph three specifically devised the 240-acre farm in four separately described tracts to four of testator’s children therein named and further provided that each should contribute $1,000 to each of two sons, who had been missing for several years, in the event that they were still alive and returned within ten years, which payments were made a lien on said lands. It was further provided therein that Guy Brown should pay $1,000 “into the personal and Redmon property fund of my estate from which the bequest of Katie Brackney is paid. ’ ’ Guy Brown was named as executor of the will.

Savilla Brown, the wife of Eli Brown, died on April 17, 1933, and on September 12, 1934, a codicil was executed by Eli Brown providing that Guy Brown (because of services performed in managing the farm and business of testator for several years) should not pay the $1,000 into the personal property fund mentioned in the second paragraph of the will, which was to be diminished to that extent, and all other provisions of the will were to remain in full force and effect, subject only to that change.

Eli Brown, at his death, left four surviving children, Irving J. Brown, Cora E. Lacey, Ethel S. Welch and Guy C. Brown, the executor. He formerly had two sons, Ora E. Brown and Claud Brown, the missing sons mentioned in the will, who had not been heard of for many years and were presumed to be deceased.

It is contended by appellant Katie Brackney that the circuit court erred, first, in failing to find that the fund created by the sale of real estate situated in the Village of Redmon and the proceeds of sale of all personal property and cash on hand at death of Savilla Brown and Eli Brown constituted a fund which was first chargeable with the payment in full of the legacy to appellant in the sum of $3,000 (less inheritance tax) precedent to the payment of any debts of the estate; or secondly, that in the alternative, appellant be paid out of said fund the sum of $3,000 (less inheritance tax) and subject only to the payment of its pro rata share of the debts and cost of administration of the estate of Eli Brown, deceased.

Appellee contends that the provisions of the will and codicil, when construed as a whole, clearly show the intent of the testator to be that the debts of the estate must be first paid from the personal estate and that only the residue remaining thereafter, if any, together with the proceeds of sale of the Redmon property, constitute a specific fund from which appellant’s legacy is payable, and that in so holding, the circuit court did not err. Appellee further contends that if the legacy given to appellant was general, the debts take precedence and must first be paid; that if the same is a demonstrative legacy, it cannot be paid in full unless there remains a residuary estate not specifically bequeathed or devised, after the payment of the debts in full; that if it is a specific bequest, it fails to the extent that there is no estate falling within the definition of the specific bequest out of which it can be paid and that it must therefore abate accordingly.

In passing upon the issues herein it will be necessary to quote the language used in the second and a portion of the third paragraph of the will, which reads as follows:

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Bluebook (online)
12 N.E.2d 710, 293 Ill. App. 373, 1938 Ill. App. LEXIS 508, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brown-v-brackney-illappct-1938.