Estate of O'Gorman

6 Coffey 245
CourtCalifornia Superior Court
DecidedApril 8, 1910
DocketNo. 2007 (N. S.)
StatusPublished

This text of 6 Coffey 245 (Estate of O'Gorman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of O'Gorman, 6 Coffey 245 (Cal. Super. Ct. 1910).

Opinion

COFFEY, J.

This case involves the interpretation of the last will of John J. O’Gorman, deceased, which is as follows:

“I hereby make this my last will and testament and declare all previous wills or assignments of interest null and void. I hereby bequeath and bequest all my interest in and to my interest in the estate of Thomas O’Gorman, deceased. To be distributed as follows: Unto Edward O ’Sullivan, two hundred and fifty ($250) dollars; to Mrs. Dora Singer, widow, the sum of $250.00; to Mrs. Kate Cummings, the sum of $250.00; to Mrs. Mary Wirtz, a married woman, the sum of $250.00; to Mrs. A. Klinner, a married woman, the sum of $250.00; to Mrs. Catherine La Grave, widow, the sum of $250.00; to James O’Connor, the sum of $250.00, due to him [246]*246for money advanced to me; unto Bernard P. La Grave, the rest and residue of my interest in the estate of Thomas-O’Gorman, deceased, for money previous advanced to me by said Bernard P. La Grave, in the sum of $500.00.”

The estate owned by John J. O’Gorman, the testator, at the time of his death, was originally the community property of his parents, Thomas O’Gorman and wife. Thomas O’Gorman died in 1873, leaving a will by which he gave one-sixth of the property to his son, John J. O’Gorman, the present testator. Subsequently the widow and other heirs of Thomas O’Gorman died, leaving John J. O’Gorman as his sole surviving heir. Some of the estates of these decedents were-never administered; but two of them, the estate of James Russell Burke and the estate of Thomas O’Gorman, were pending at the time when John J. O’Gorman, the present testator, made his will. This property, which was all real estate, was the only property left by John J. O’Gorman.

Prom this statement of facts the legatees make this contention: When John J. O’Gorman made the above will he was the owner of the whole estate originally belonging to Thomas O’Gorman. The entire title, though not yet judicially established, had, through the death of the other members of the family, been gathered to him as the sole surviving heir. With, his property in this condition John J. O’Gorman made his will wherein he said: “I hereby bequeath and bequest all my interest in and to my interest in the estate of Thomas O’Gorman, deceased, to be distributed as follows”: What did he mean by his “interest in the estate of Thomas O’Gorman”! Counsel for the heirs contend that he meant only the one-sixth of the estate that came to him directly by the will of Thomas O’Gorman, and that he died intestate as to the rest of his estate. But, argue the legatees, the law raises a strong presumption against partial intestacy.

A man who makes a will at all may reasonably be supposed to intend to dispose of his whole estate. Would it not be a strange thing for this testator to will an undivided one-sixth of his estate, leaving the other five-sixths to pass by the law of succession, especially when he makes the testamentary [247]*247gifts so large that they cannot be realized except in small part, from one-sixth of the estate? A layman in drawing a will (and certainly no lawyer drew this one) may very naturally have described the entire estate of the testator as his “interest in the estate of Thomas O’Gorman, deceased,” for all of the property of the testator came, directly or indirectly, from the Thomas O’Gorman estate; the administration of the estate of Thomas O’Gorman was still pending• the estate of Thomas O’Gorman was still intact, never had been distributed or divided in any way; and more than all the estate of Thomas O’Gorman had, in its entirety, been gathered to the testator at the time he executed his will. The legatees conclude, therefore, that the testator meant to dispose of his entire estate, and not merely the small fraction thereof which came to him by the will of Thomas O’Gorman.

If this interpretation of the will be correct, the heirs cannot share in the estate, but all goes to the legatees; but if the court finds that the testator intended to dispose of only that part of his estate which he took by the will of Thomas O’Gorman (which is only about one-sixth of the property), then the question arises whether the bequests in the present will are specific, or whether they are demonstrative or general. If they are specific they must, for the most part, fail, for the one-sixth of the estate amounts to only $344.09, while the legacies amount to $1750, excluding interest. If they are demonstrative or general, then they are payable out of the general assets, and are saved, but they exhaust the estate, so that nothing remains for the residuary legatees and the heirs.

A specific legacy is defined by section 1357 of the Civil Code as “a legacy of a particular thing, specified and distinguished from all others of the same kind belonging to the testator.” The same section then defines demonstrative legacies, and in conclusion declares that all other legacies are general legacies.

Specific legacies, it is well understood, are not favored by the law, and in cases of doubt legacies are held general or demonstrative, rather than specific; the reason for this is that specific legacies are not liable for the debts of the tes[248]*248tator, and on the other hand they fail or are “adeemed” if the thing or fund is not in existence at the time of the death of the testator: Nusly v. Curtis, 36 Colo. 464, 118 Am. St. Rep. 113, 85 Pac. 846, 10 Ann. Cas. 1134, 7 L. R. A. (N. S.) 592; 18 Am. & Eng. Ency. of Law, p. 715.

In Estate of Woodworth, 31 Cal. 599, the will left all the testator’s personal estate and one-half of his real estate to his brother. Both the bequest and the devise were held general and not specific; and it was also held that the common-law rule that all devises of real property are specific has been abrogated in California. The court said: “In a certain sense it may be said that legacies of this kind are specific; as a legacy of all of the testator’s cattle, or all of his personal property possessed at his death; but it is not specific unless you can fix on the individual thing given.”

If a bequest of all of testator’s personal property or a devise of all of testator’s real property is not specific, certainly much less can it be maintained that a devise of an interest in an estate, as in the ease at bar, is specific. There is certainly no individual thing of any kind in this case that can be said to be devised or bequeathed.

In the case of Abila v. Burnett, 33 Cal. 667, a provision in the will that “my said wife shall receive one-half of all my property of which I may die seised” was declared not to be a specific bequest or devise.

If under a will leaving alt the testator’s personal estate and one-half of his real estate to his brother, both the bequest and devise are general and not specific (Estate of Woodworth, 31 Cal. 599); and if a provision in a will “my said wife shall receive one-half of all my property of which I may die seised” (Abila v. Burnett, 33 Cal. 667), does not constitute a specific bequest, how can it be said that a gift of “an interest in an estate” (in the case at bar an undivided one-sixth interest in land) is a specific legacy or devise 1 If a gift of “all the personal property” and “one-half the real property” is a general legacy and devise, certainly a gift in the general words of “an interest in an estate” (here an undivided one-sixth interest in land) must with greater reason be a general devise or legacy and not a specific one.

[249]*249Estate op O’Gorman.

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Bluebook (online)
6 Coffey 245, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-ogorman-calsuperct-1910.