Heyward-Williams Co. v. McCall

79 S.E. 133, 140 Ga. 502, 1913 Ga. LEXIS 169
Supreme Court of Georgia·Decided August 13, 1913·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

Evans, P. J.

This case comes -to us on exception to the grant of an interlocutory injunction, the propriety and correctness of which depend upon the construction of the deed from B. F. Beard to Frances A. McCall, trustee, which is in terms as follows:

“State of Georgia, Screven County. This indenture, made and entered into this 26th day of April, 1892, between B. F. Beard of the county aforesaid, and State aforesaid, of the first part, and Frances A. McCall, trustee for her children, of the same place, of [503] the second part, witnesseth, that the said B. F. Beard, for and in consideration of the natural love and affection which he has for his daughter, the said Frances A. McCall, trustee as aforesaid, has given, granted, and delivered, and by these presents does give, grant, and deliver unto the said Frances A. McCall, trustee as aforesaid, and to her successors in the trust [a described tract of land]. To have and to hold the said tract of land and premises unto the said Frances A. McCall, trustee as aforesaid, and to her successors in the trust, for the sole and separate use, benefit, and behoof of the aforesaid beneficiaries of said trust, forever. But said trustee shall not have the right, power, or authority to sell or dispose of said land or premises in any manner, or to mortgage, pawn, or pledge the same in any manner; nor shall said land be subject or liable to or for the debts, contracts, or liabilities of said trustee or any successors in the trust, either in her or their individual or trust capacity; but said land shall forever remain exempt from any and all such obligations. Such trustee, however, shall have full right, liberty, and power to use said land for the ordinary purposes of farming, either by planting it herself or by renting or leasing it from year to year to other persons for the same purposes. And should the said Frances A. McCall, trustee as aforesaid, have no children living at the time of her death, then she may, of her ¡own will and choice, give said land and premises to such person or persons as she may desire. It is also agreed between the parties of the first and second parts that the aforesaid lands and premises shall be and the same are hereby considered as constituting a part of the said Frances A. McCall share in the estate of the said B. F. Beard, at the final distribution of said estate, so that each-child shall receive an equal share. It is further agreed that the schoolhouse on said land, together with one acre of land immediately around said house, shall be and the same is hereby set apart for such purposes, so long as it shall be used for teaching white children ; otherwise to revert to the said Frances A. McCall, trustee as aforesaid. And lastly the said B. F. Beard does hereby warrant the .said tract of land and premises unto the said Frances A. McCall, trustee as aforesaid, and' to her successors in the trust, against himself, his heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, and against all persons whomsoever.”

It was admitted that Frances A. McCall had no children at the [504] date of the execution and delivery of the deed, but that subsequently there was born unto her a child, Harry F. McCall. She died in 1897, leaving as her sole heirs at law her son Harry F. McCall, and her husband E. C. McCall.

The insistence of the plaintiff in error is, that because there was no child of Frances A. McCall in esse at the time of the delivery of the deed, she took a fee-simple estate, and that her after-born child took nothing under the deed. This is said to result from the application of the rule in Wild’s case, recognized as a rule of construction by the courts of this State. The doctrine of Wild’s case, as stated by Downes, C. J., in Ball & Beatty, 459, is as follows: “Where the devise is in terms immediate, and so intended by the •testator, and the description of the persons to take is general, then none that do not fall within the description at the time of the testator’s death can take; therefore, the after-born must be excluded. But where the enjoyment of the thing devised is, by the testator’s expressed intent, not to be immediate by those among whom it is finally to be divided, but is postponed to a particular period, or until a particular event shall happen, then those who answer the general description at that period, or when the event happens on which the .distribution is to be made, 'are entitled to take.” The rule in Wild’s case is wholly inapplicable to the case sub judice. If a present estate had been conveyed to Frances A. McCall and her children, she having no children in esse at the time, a fee-simple title would have passed to her. Baird v. Brookin, 86 Ga. 709 (12 S. E. 981, 12 L. R. A. 157); Hollis v. Lawton, 107 Ga. 102 (32 S. E. 846, 73 Am. St. R. 114). But the grantor did not convey the land to his daughter individually, nor did he manifest any intention to convey a present estate to her and her children. At the time of the execution of the deed the daughter had no children, and the grantor was well aware of this fact. At the same time the grantor’s deed shows that he appreciated the possibility, or even probability, that she might subsequently have children, and reflects his intention to make her after-born children the benefi■ciaries of his bounty, in the event they survived their mother. To •effectuate this intent he conveyed the property to his daughter in trust, and carefully defined the nature and limitations of the trust. The legal estate was conveyed to Frances A. McCall, not individually, but to her as trustee, for the purpose of executing a specific [505] trüst. The trust declared was that the trustee was to use the land ■for the ordinary purposes of farming, either by planting it herself ■or by renting or leasing it from year to year to other persons for the same purpose. Whether the grantor intended that the trustee ■should have the annual profits of the land, or accumulate and hold the same for the benefit of children surviving her, is not a ■question in the present case. But it is clear that the grantor’s intent was to place the title to the land in Frances A. McCall to hold the same in trust for the benefit of her children living at her death. In the event of the daughter’s death without surviving ■children, and only in that event, she is given the power to dispose ■of the land. Upon her death leaving a surviving child, such child was the cestui que trust, and became vested with the title to the land.

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Heyward-Williams Co. v. McCall, 79 S.E. 133, 140 Ga. 502, 1913 Ga. LEXIS 169 (Ga. 1913).

79 S.E. 133 (Heyward-Williams Co. v. McCall) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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