Bruere v. Cook

52 A. 1001, 63 N.J. Eq. 624, 18 Dickinson 624, 1902 N.J. Ch. LEXIS 56
CourtNew Jersey Court of Chancery
DecidedJuly 14, 1902
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 52 A. 1001 (Bruere v. Cook) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Court of Chancery primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bruere v. Cook, 52 A. 1001, 63 N.J. Eq. 624, 18 Dickinson 624, 1902 N.J. Ch. LEXIS 56 (N.J. Ct. App. 1902).

Opinion

Grey, V. C.

(orally).

This case must be determined almost wholly upon the words of the will and the testimony which is offered to show the identity of the legatee intended by the testator to take the residuary bequests. Extended examination of authorities is not necessary, for each matter like this must be determined by the incidents peculiar to the case which may be under consideration. I will therefore dispose of it at once. So far as the principles of the law applicable to this case need to be referred to, they may be found in Mills v. Davison, 9 Dick. Ch. Rep. 659, where a gift of a lot of land, to be used for purposes of worship and teaching in accordance with the rites of the Protestant Episcocal Church, was held to be a gift for a charitable use, in the nature of a trust, which equity will enforce. If this court will aid and enforce, as charitable, a gift to maintain a single church building, how much more benefieient is a gift for the further extension of the influence of the Christian religion among the whole human race in this and foreign countries? * In Hesketh v. Murphy, 9 Stew. Eq. 307, 308, are collected and discussed the cases of gifts to misnamed donees, or for purposes requiring selection of the final beneficiaries within a subclass. There it is held that gifts to misnamed first legatees, for distribution to a subclass of beneficiaries, will be aided and enforced in this court. These decisions are both in the court of appeals, and they settle the law applicable to this ease.

[628]*628An examination of the terms in which this residuary bequest is expressed, and a very slight consideration of the .contentions of the parties, show that the complainant is fully justified, for his protection in the administration of his trust, in asking the aid of this court in determining the validity of the bequest and the identity of the legatee.

The residuary gift, if forceful, passes, not only the fund of •money remaining in the hands of the complainant, as executor of the will, but also the real estate whereof the testator died seized which yet remains unsold. It is both a legacy and a devise. No title was devised to the executor. He received, as to the real estate, only a power of sale. The executor has control only of the personalty, the fund in his hands, but the terms of the will are such that the residue of the personalty and of the real estate pass by the same gift to the same beneficiary. In this cause the only thing to be considered is the duty of the-executor with relation to the fund in his hands. The first question arises on the claim of the heirs and next of kin, that the whole residuary gift fails, and that the testator, as to that gift, died intestate, and consequently that his real estate descended to his heirs-at-law, and the residue of his personalty to his next of kin.

They challenge this bequest because they insist that it is so-uncertain in its nomination of the residuary legatee and devisee, and in its designation of the ultimate use of the fund, that no court can enforce it, and consequently cannot instruct the complainant to pay the money to anybody.

It is undisputed that there is no such body or corporation as “The Board of Missions of the Baptist Church of New Jersey,” the primary legatee named in the will.

The words of the gift show that the testator intended to give-the property in question to some board or association of persons of the Baptist Church of New Jersey which was engaged in the conduct of home and foreign 'mission work. In making this-gift he indicates, in the clearest possible way, that he did not -intend that the board which might be the recipient of the title should use the fund for any general purposes of church work. He meant to give the title of the gift to a board, but this board [629]*629should use and apply the gift, one-third part thereof for home missions and two-thirds parts thereof for foreign missions of the Baptist Church.

. The title was intended to be given to one, for the use and benefit of further specified beneficiaries or objects. In short, without so naming it in words, he created a trust.

It must, of course, appear that in 1899, when the testator died and his will spoke, the objects which he intended should ultimately receive the benefits of his bounty were sufficiently defined by him to enable the fund to be devoted to those objects.

■The misnomer of the legatee who should, in the first place, receive and apply the fund, or the selection of one who does not have the power or equipment to carry the testator’s intention into effect, or even the entire omission in anyway to indicate a person or corporation to whom payment of the fund could primarily! be made, will not defeat such a gift, if the testator’s ultimate object is lawful and is definitely indicated. Equity will not permit a lawful trust to be defeated for want of. an efficient trustee.

On this question of the definiteness of the object for which the testator gave this residue a considerable amount of testimony was offered by a number of Baptist ministers, showing how the mission work of that church is organized and conducted. Their statements all agree in a very clear and frank exposition of the constitution of that church, its method of government, and the various organizations through which it carries on its mission work.

All the church congregations have the same faith. Each is, in its government, independent. From the pastors and members various societies have been formed to carry on the different branches of church work. In 1899, and indeed for many years before that time, there existed a distinct and well-defined branch of endeavor, known among Baptists as “home missions.” This included in its area of church “work the whole of the United States and its territories. Another branch, equally well known and established, was called “foreign missions.” This included all foreign parts outside of the United States. The support of these different branches of church work had for years been the [630]*630subject of exhortation in the various Baptist churches and of contribution by the members. The funds raised were expended in these two separate and distinct fields. These lines of work had been so thoroughly established in the Baptist Church, at and before the time of the testator’s death, that the words “home missions” and “foreign missions” had such a well-understood significance that they entered into the general nomenclature of the church, and were commonly used to indicate the fields of church work above defined. Irrespective of their acceptance among Baptists, home missions and foreign missions are understood, in common parlance, in all churches, to have substantially the same meaning.

The testator had, for years before his death, been a member of a Baptist church in Trenton. A gift by him to Baptist Church home missions and to Baptist Church foreign missions sufficiently indicates the ultimate beneficiary for whom he intended the gift. This final purpose of the testator is plainly expressed in the very words of the will, and when the proofs show that there is a well-defined work in home missions and in 'foreign missions in the Baptist Church, there is no element of uncertainty in the gift.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
52 A. 1001, 63 N.J. Eq. 624, 18 Dickinson 624, 1902 N.J. Ch. LEXIS 56, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bruere-v-cook-njch-1902.