In re the Construction of the Will of Van Deusen

191 Misc. 16, 76 N.Y.S.2d 28, 1948 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2041
CourtNew York Surrogate's Court
DecidedJanuary 9, 1948
StatusPublished

This text of 191 Misc. 16 (In re the Construction of the Will of Van Deusen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Surrogate's Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re the Construction of the Will of Van Deusen, 191 Misc. 16, 76 N.Y.S.2d 28, 1948 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2041 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1948).

Opinion

Tuck, S.

The twentieth clause of the last will and testament of Alice Van Deusen provides as follows: All the rest, residue and remainder of my property both real and personal and wheresoever situate I give, devise and bequeath unto Skidmore College of the City of Saratoga Springs, New York, for the establishment of a fund to be known as the Charles C. Van Deusen and Alice Van Deusen Memorial Fund the income therefrom to be used for such purposes as the Trustees of Skidmore College may from time to time determine; provided, however, that the said fund be and hereby is charged with life annuities of Three thousand ($3,000.) Dollars each to be paid quarterly to Frank S. Steenberg, Charles M. Steenberg and Florence Steenberg Smith, nephews and niece of my late husband Charles C. Van Deusen, it being my intention that such annuities be paid in full even though the income from the said fund may be at any time insuffiicent and that only surplus income from the fund remaining after the payment of the said annuities for each year shall be used by Skidmore College during the lifetime of any of the said annuitants,” etc.

A petition for a construction of this provision has been presented by the executors and the particular question which it is desired to have determined is when the said annuities accrued, whether upon the death of the testatrix or after the receipt of the fund by the residuary legatee.

In Cunningham v. Parker (146 N. Y. 29) a will provided: “ I-give, devise and bequeath unto my beloved son Alexander Whit-ford all the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, both real and personal, of what nature or kind soever, to have and to hold [18]*18the same to him, his heirs and assigns forever, on the condition and proviso that he pay to the above-named legatees respectively the legacies herein given within the period of four years after my decease, without interest; and the real estate so devised to my son Alexander Whitford is charged with the payment of the same.” The Court of Appeals decided this provision was not a condition but that where the devisees accepted and went into possession of the land it became a covenant and the provision was not forfeited by reason of the failure of Alexander Whitford to make the payment within four years. i

In Matter of Watson (149 Misc. 753) the Surrogate of Albany County construed a provision which read: Marian Palmer must pay Winifred McCormack, my sister twenty dollars per' week as long as she lives ” and where there was a further provision in the will that “ Dudley Norton to make an even division of every thing not mentioned herein between himself and Marian Palmer not selling any thing except Albany house and any other real estate I may own.”

Upon the question as to when the payment by Mrs. Palmer to Mrs. McCormack should begin, the Surrogate held that.there is no provision that the executors should make such payments and the responsibility for such payments is placed solely and personally upon Marian Palmer, that she should commence the payment of the weekly installments when she accepts and receives the legacy, etc.

There was an appeal in that matter to the Appellate Division (242 App. Div. 723), which reversed the decree of the Surrogate’s Court and remitted the matter to the Surrogate’s Court “ to enter a decree in substantially the following form: That the annuity of twenty dollars per week bequeathed to Winifred McCormack is payable from the date of the death of testatrix; that as a condition precedent to the transfer of securities which will constitute the payment of the legacy bequeathed to Marian ' Palmer, she is required to furnish and file a bond with the Albany county surrogate conditioned for the payment of the twenty ! dollars a week annuity bequeathed to Winifred McCormack, : such bond to be in the general form, and with sureties justifying in an amount approved by the surrogate of Albany county, and , the sureties to be approved as to "financial responsibility by said ; surrogate. In lieu of a personal bond, Marian Palmer may file a bond isued by a surety company in an amount directed by the surrogate of Albany county conditioned as above mentioned. By agreement of the parties Winifred McCormack and Marian Palmer or their attorneys, in lieu of a bond, the said Marian .

[19]*19Palmer may deposit securities agreed upon by the parties or their attorneys, with a depository agreed upon by them, such securities to be held by the depository as security for the payment of the annuity bequeathed to Winifred McCormack, subject to the order of the Albany County Surrogate’s Court.”

In Matter of Sneden (154 Misc. 49) the fourth paragraph of the will of the deceased provided: I charge upon my said residuary estate an annuity in favor of my niece Ann Mary Smith, now residing in Marion, State of .Pennsylvania, and I direct the payment by said residuary legatees (each one-half part of said residuary estate contributing equally) of the yearly sum of Five thousand Dollars during the life of my said niece Ann Mary Smith.’’

Surrogate DeleUanty construing that paragraph of the will held that nothing in the text defers the vesting or attaches any condition to the vesting of the legacy. There is no provision in the will for forfeiture or for gift over if the direction quoted is not obeyed. Accordingly it is ruled that the legacy is now payable by the trustees to the legatees. The legatees in accepting payment became personally bound to pay the annuity. (Cunningham v. Parker, 146 N. Y. 29; Collister v. Fassitt, 163 N. Y. 281.) And he further held “ The court deems it appropriate to follow the practice outlined in Matter of Watson (242 App. Div. 723, revg. 149 Misc. 753, cited to the court) and require either the furnishing of a bond or deposit of securities by the legatees in a stim reasonably related to the life expectancy of the annuitant and the amount of the annuity.”

In Matter of Weir (172 Misc. 74) a will was construed the third item of which read:61 All the rest, residue and remainder of my real and personal estate, I give, devise and bequeath to my four children [named]. To have and to hold the same to them, their heirs and assigns forever; and I order and direct that out of the income thereof, they shall pay to my wife * * * the sum of twenty-five hundred dollars per year, so long as she shall live, in quarterly payments in advance.” In addition to this provision the testator also gave to Ms wife a legal life estate in certain real estate and directed the executors to keep the premises in repair and pay all taxes, assessments and insurance on the premises during the term aforesaid out of the residuary estate.

The court in construing the provision in respect to the annuity held that although the language of the will provided for payment out of income, the provision was nevertheless an "annuity and that the income alone was not the only source from which [20]*20payment of the annuity should he made. Besiduary legatees argued that they had consumed so much of the residuary that the income was not suEcient to pay the $2,500 annuity.

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Related

Kearney v. . Cruikshank
22 N.E. 580 (New York Court of Appeals, 1889)
Collister v. . Fassitt
57 N.E. 490 (New York Court of Appeals, 1900)
Cunningham v. . Parker
40 N.E. 635 (New York Court of Appeals, 1895)
In re the Estate of Watson
149 Misc. 753 (New York Surrogate's Court, 1933)
In re the Estate of Sneden
154 Misc. 49 (New York Surrogate's Court, 1934)
In re the Estate of Weir
172 Misc. 74 (New York Surrogate's Court, 1939)

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Bluebook (online)
191 Misc. 16, 76 N.Y.S.2d 28, 1948 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2041, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-construction-of-the-will-of-van-deusen-nysurct-1948.