Howland v. Howland

9 N.Y.S. 233, 30 N.Y. St. Rep. 526, 56 Hun 641, 1890 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 101
New York Supreme Court·Decided March 14, 1890·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

Daniels, J.

The action was brought by the plaintiff as a trustee appointed to execute trusts declared by the will of Gardiner G. Howland, deceased. He ■died in November, 1851, leaving a will executed by him for the disposition of his estate. Doubts or disputes are stated to have arisen as to the rights and interests of his two daughters, Louisa H. Clendenin and Joanna H. Grinned; and their solution depends upon the construction to be given to the twenty-first paragraph of the will. They have, respectively, attained the ages of 60 and 46 years, and upwards, and each of them is now without issue; and the controversy which has arisen involves the disposition of so much of the testator’s estate as is mentioned in this paragraph of the will, and designed for these two daughters. This paragraph disposed of the rest, residue, and remainder of the estate, and no other portions of the will are necessary to be considered for the determination of the present controversy. The testator, at the time of his decease, left nine children; and it was to provide for these children, by the division of his residuary estate, that this paragraph was added to [234]*234the will. It is in these words: “Twenty-First. All and singular, the rest, residue, and remainder oí my estate and property, both real and personal, whatsoever and wheresoever, I do hereby devise and bequeath unto my eight beloved children, that is to say, William Edgar Howland, Abby Woolsey How-land, Robert Shaw Howland, Maria Louisa Howland, Rebecca Brien Howland, Meredith Howland, and Gardiner Greene Howland, Junior, and such other child or children as may hereafter be bom to me, or wherewith my wife may be enceinte at the time of my death, and to their respective heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, forever, to be divided equally between them, or share and share alike, including the issue of such as may die before me, such issue taking the same share as their, his, or her parent or other ancestor would have taken if living, subject, however, in regard to the portions of my sons, to the limitation herein next stated, and also subject, in regard to the portions-of my daughters, to the trusts hereinafter declared in regard thereto. That is to say, with regard to the portions of my sons, my will and direction are that my said sons be put into the possession and enjoyment of the one equal half part of their respective portions as soon as they shall severally attain the age of twenty-one years, and the other half as they severally reach the age of twenty-five years, which latter half my executors are hereby directed to retain in their possession and control until such latter age, but in the mean time to pay to my said sons, respectively, the interest, dividends, or other periodical income thereof. And, with regard to the portions of my daughters, my will and direction are that my said executors, and the survivors and survivor of them, be, and I hereby constitute them and him, the trustees and trustee of the portions of my said daughters, respectively, during their respective natural lives, and I hereby give and bequeath the same to my said executors, and the survivors and survivor of them, accordingly, in trust for my said daughters, respectively, and to invest the same in their or his names or name as such trustees or trustee, in the manner hereinafter directed, and to pay over the interest, dividends, or other periodical income thereof to my said daughters, respectively, from time to time, to and for their own separate use and benefit, and upon their separate receipt, whether married or sole, during the residue of their natural lives, and upon their death, as each shall happen to die, to pay over and distribute the principal of the share or portion of the one so dying to her issue living at the time of her decease, including the issue of such as may then be deceased, equally or share and share alike, the issue of any deceased child then living taking the same share as their, his, or her parent or other ancestor would have taken if then living. And, with regard to such of my children as may be minors at the time of my decease, I do hereby direct their before-named guardians and guardian to provide and furnish all the requisite funds for their genteel and suitable maintenance, education, and support during their respective minorities, not, however, exceeding the annual sum of one thousand dollars for each child. ” And, under the language employed in framing it, it has been claimed that these two daughters acquired-the absolute title to their shares as they had been mentioned, and, upon their decease without children, that their respective shares will descend to their heirs and next of kin, or in accordance with the directions winch may be contained in the will of either or each of them; and this construction and effect-was given to the paragraph by the judgment from which the appeal has been brought.

It is true that, by the language first employed in framing this part of the will, the testator did, in terms, devise and bequeath the residue and remainder of his estate to his children. But this devise and bequest was not permitted to remain as it was in this manner first expressed; but it was made subject to further and additional directions contained in this part of the will. After making the devises and bequests, the testator declared, so far as they were intended for his sons, that they should be subject to the limita[235]*235tians contained in this part of the will. These limitations as to the sons, however, have no effect upon the provisions made in favor of the daughters. But, as to their provisions, the will also proceeded to declare them “subject, in regard to the portions of my daughters, to the trusts hereinafter declared in regard thereto;” and this was a clear declaration of his intention to place the shares of the daughters in trust for their benefit, and that at once qualified the preceding language, from which the absolute title might otherwise be inferred to be intended to vest in the daughters themselves. After subjecting the devises and bequests to this qualification, the testator, in the same paragraph, proceeded to declare that the portions of his estate designed for his daughters should be vested in his executors, the survivor and survivors of them, as trustees for the daughters, respectively, during their respective natural lives. And he then added a further direction giving and bequeathing these shares of the daughters to his executors in trust for them; and this trust was “to invest the same in their or his names or name, as such trustees or trustee, in the manner hereinafter directed, and to pay over the interest, dividends, or other periodical income thereof to my said daughters, respectively, from time to time, to and for their own separate use and benefit, * * * during the residue of their natural lives. ” There was no repugnancy between the directions contained in this part and the first part of this paragraph of the will, and they are all to be taken and construed together, to ascertain and discover the intention of the testator as to the rights and interests designed to be vested in his daughters. The provisions are continuous in their character; all to be taken, as they were expressed, together, to ascertain the object and intention of the testator. He at first employed language which, standing by itself, would have devised and bequeathed the shares of these daughters absolutely to them. But he did not leave the devise unqualified, but immediately declared that it was subject to the trusts afterwards declared in regard thereto; and then he proceeded to declare what those trusts were intended to be.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Howland v. Howland, 9 N.Y.S. 233, 30 N.Y. St. Rep. 526, 56 Hun 641, 1890 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 101 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1890).

9 N.Y.S. 233 (Howland v. Howland) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Ketcham v. Ketcham
22 N.Y.S. 8 (New York Supreme Court, 1893)