Carmichael v. Lathrop

32 L.R.A. 232, 66 N.W. 350, 108 Mich. 473, 1896 Mich. LEXIS 1005
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 26, 1896
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 32 L.R.A. 232 (Carmichael v. Lathrop) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carmichael v. Lathrop, 32 L.R.A. 232, 66 N.W. 350, 108 Mich. 473, 1896 Mich. LEXIS 1005 (Mich. 1896).

Opinion

Hooker, J.

The will of Henry P. Pulling was executed in June, 1872. After giving his wife the use and enjoyment of all of his property during life, in lieu of dower, it provided that—

‘ ‘ Second. All the remainder of the estate of, in, and to my said property, both real and personal, subject to the said life estate of my said wife, I give, devise, and bequeath to my three daughters, Ada M. Lathrop, of Detroit, Michigan, Emily Lloyd, of Albany, New York, and Marilla B. Carmichael, of Amsterdam, New York, and to their heirs forever, share and share alike. * * *
“Third. I hereby authorize and empower my hereinafter named executors to sell and convey in fee simple absolute, in their discretion, any portion or all of my real estate, with a view of otherwise investing the proceeds [475]*475thereof, or to change my present securities into real investments. But such change is to be done with the consent of my wife, and the approval of the probate court or a court of chancery. And this power and authority of so selling and conveying in fee simple absolute my real estate is hereby made notwithstanding the bequests which are given to my daughters, which bequests are hereby made subservient to said power. And I do hereby direct my executors to invest all my moneys and property, and the avails of all real estate so sold, in first-class, unincumbered real-estate mortgages, or in United States bonds or Michigan State bonds, said securities to be held and retained by them, and the income thereof paid quarter yearly, or, at the furthest, every half year, by them, to my said wife, until her decease, and on such death my estate is to be closed up and distributed as provided for in the second clause of this my will.
“And, lastly, I do hereby appoint my brother Abraham C. Pulling, of New York City» my brother-in-law William P. Bridgman, of Detroit, and my son-in-law Joseph Lathrop, of Detroit, to be the executors of this my last will and testament, hereby revoking all former wills by me made.”

Mr. Pulling died in July, 1890, and the will was probated August 19, 1890. Joseph Lathrop qualified as executor. The probate records show that at the time of the testator’s death he was seised in fee of real estate to the value of $65,000, that there was due to him upon land contracts $45,000, that he owned other personal property to the amount of $30,000, and that there were no debts or claims against the estate. Previous to the death of the testator, he conveyed to each of the defendants a parcel of real estate; that conveyed to Mrs. Lloyd being alleged to be worth $14,000, and that received by Mrs. Lathrop said to be worth $10,000. There is evidence tending to show that he intended to repair the house upon Mrs. Lathrop’s property, thereby making the gift to her equal to that of Mrs. Lloyd, and that he intended to do as well by his other daughter, the complainant; but her husband became embarrassed, and finally went to state’s prison, and she never received a home, as the others had. [476]*476Her father, however, gave to her money from time to time, for her support, which aggregated $1,100. Soon after the probate of the will, litigation arose between the widow and children, which was finally adjusted, and the property was divided, the parties executing the necessary deeds and other instruments to carry it into effect. The accounts of Lathrop, the executor, were settled, and he was discharged. There is now some land held in common by the three sisters.

The' complainant files the bill in this cause, alleging that the lands conveyed by the testator to her two sisters should be treated as ademptions of their respective legacies, and that they should be required to account to her for her share thereof. She alleges that her father so intended, and that they recognized the justice thereof, and promised to see that she received the same, and, relying upon such promises, she consented to the settlement of the estate, expecting that her sisters would pay her an amount -equal to her share of said parcels so received by them. It seems tacitly agreed that this record involves only the question whether the property conveyed to Mrs. Loyd and Mrs. Lathrop before the testator’s death should be applied upon their respective interests under the will, or, in other words, as the counsel for the complainant state it, whether it can be treated as an ademption or a satisfaction pro tanto of their bequests. We are perhaps at liberty to assume from the pleadings and admitted facts that the defendants received sufficient personal property under the will to more than cover the claim of the complainant; .in other words, that they have received bequests to such amount in addition to any lands that they may have received. As to such personal property, the will made the sisters legatees, although they may have been also devisees as to the real estate, if the contention of the defendants’ counsel is correct. In other words, they are none the less legatees, taking bequests of personal property, because one and the same provision of the will gave them both personal [477]*477and real property. Hence we need spend no time upon the question whether the terms of the will made them devisees, as there are legacies sufficient to support the ademption contended for. We can therefore eliminate some of the questions which arise where an attempt is made to apply the doctrine of satisfaction to a devise of real property by reason of the conveyance to the devisee of other property. The case is one where it is claimed that a gift of personal property by will may be satisfied by a conveyance of land, when such is the clear intention of the testator.

If a person should bequeath to another a sum of money, and, previous to his (the testator’s) death, should pay to such person the same amount, upon the express understanding that it was to discharge the bequest, the legacy would be thereby adeemed. But, in the absence of an apparent or expressed intention, that would not ordinarily be the effect of the payment of a sum of money to a legatee under an existing will. Generally, such payment would not affect the legacy. To this rule there is an exception, where the testator is a parent of or stands to the legatee in loco parentis J. In such case the payment would be presumed to be an ademption of the legacy. At first blush this impresses one as an unreasonable rule, as it puts the stranger legatee upon a better footing than the testator’s own son, and judges and law-writers have severely condemned the rule. See 2 Story, Eq. Jur. §§ 1110-1113. It has been said that “this rule has excited the regret and censure of more than one eminent modern judge, though it has met with approbation from other high authorities.” 2 Williams, Ex’rs (7th Am. Ed.), *1194. Story’s condemnation of it is strong, but he adds, “We must be content to declare, ‘ Ita lex scripta est.’ It is established, although it may not be entirely approved.” And Worden, J., in Weston v. Johnson, 48 Ind. 5, says, “What-, ever may be thought of the doctrine, it is thoroughly established in English and American jurisprudence.” [478]*478Shudal v. Jekyll, 2 Atk. 518; Ex parte Pye, 18 Ves. 140, 2 White & T. Lead. Cas. Eq. (4th Ed.) 741; Van Houten v. Post, 33 N. J. Eq. 344.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
32 L.R.A. 232, 66 N.W. 350, 108 Mich. 473, 1896 Mich. LEXIS 1005, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carmichael-v-lathrop-mich-1896.