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Estate of Holcombe

49 N.W.2d 914, 259 Wis. 642, 1951 Wisc. LEXIS 245
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 6, 1951
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 49 N.W.2d 914 (Estate of Holcombe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of Holcombe, 49 N.W.2d 914, 259 Wis. 642, 1951 Wisc. LEXIS 245 (Wis. 1951).

Opinions

Martin, J.

There are two questions involved here for our consideration, the first, whether or not the appellant Gordon Curtis has an interest in this estate and, second, whether the ruling of the circuit court admitting the will to probate and excluding the bequest to Nellie Curtis can be sustained.

In Will of Griffiths (1920), 172 Wis. 630, 179 N. W. 768, this court held that under sec. 2289 (now sec. 238.13), Stats., on the death of a legatee during the lifetime of a testator, the legatee’s children are entitled to her share. See also Will of Vedder (1943), 244 Wis. 134, 11 N. W. (2d) 642.

As to adopted children, sec. 322.07, Stats., provides:

“(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the effect of the order of adoption is to completely change the legal status of the adopted person from that of a child of the natural parents to that of a child of the adoptive parents; . . .”

This language is clear and unambiguous, and the only rule ■ of construction applicable is that words be given their natural [646]*646meaning. If the appellant here were the natural son of Nellie Curtis, no question would arise but that he would be entitled to the share of his mother. It is evident that under this section, so far as the adoptive parents are concerned, the child is in the same status as is a natural-born child, and under Will of Griffiths, supra, is entitled to take from its adoptive mother. See also Estate of Ries, ante, p. 453, 49 N. W. (2d) 483; 24 Marquette Law Review, 225.

Gordon Curtis is the legal heir of his adoptive mother, Nellie Curtis, to whom the bequest was made. We see nothing to be gained by belaboring the question. He does not inherit except through his deceased mother Nellie Curtis.

We come now to the question whether the trial court should be sustained in admitting the will to probate with the exception of the bequest to Nellie Curtis.

The rule that findings of the trial court cannot be set aside unless against tire great weight and clear preponderance of the evidence does not apply in a case such as this where the interpretation of a will rests upon the ápplication of legal principles or rules of construction to known facts. Under such circumstances the trial court is in no better position to reach a correct conclusion than is the appellate court. Will of Mechler (1944), 246 Wis. 45, 16 N. W. (2d) 373.

We find no fault with the conclusion of the trial court that other interlineations and insertions were made with a view of “dependent relative revocation;” that testatrix contemplated changes in her will. However, we cannot agree that these “contemplated changes” are consistent with the finding that in paragraph 13 there was a revocation as to the bequest to Nellie Curtis.

[647]*647

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Estate of Holcombe
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Bluebook (online)
49 N.W.2d 914, 259 Wis. 642, 1951 Wisc. LEXIS 245, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-holcombe-wis-1951.