Kerr v. Dougherty

59 How. Pr. 44
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedMay 15, 1878
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 59 How. Pr. 44 (Kerr v. Dougherty) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kerr v. Dougherty, 59 How. Pr. 44 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1878).

Opinion

Van Brunt, J.

The first question to be considered is as to the validity of the legacy of $10,000 given in the second clause of the will to Edward H. Dougherty, in trust for the sole use and benefit of his two daughters.

It is claimed, by counsel for the defendant, Holahan, that this legacy is void, because there is no trust created by it which a court of equity could enforce at any time; because the last clause, i£ either of them die before receiving her share, then the balance is to be given to the survivor, is indefinite; and because the trust sought to be created is void, as being contrary to the provisions of the statute respecting perpetuities.

I do not think that there is any difficulty in determining what was the intention of the testator in the second clause of his will.

The testator evidently intended to place in the hands of Edward H. Dougherty a fund of $10,000, the income of which should belong to the two daughters equally, and that they should be equally interested in the principal; and that the trustee should have the power at such times as he should think proper, to advance to either of his said daughters the whole principal of such daughter’s one-half of the legacy, or any portion of it, and in case either of the daughters should die before her half of the principal had been advanced to her, the balance of her half of the legacy remaining unadvanced is given absolutely to the survivor.

There does not seem to me to be any doubt but that the foregoing is a true interpretation of the language of the testator as contained in the second clause of his will.

There is no such ambiguity or uncertainty as makes it impossible to ascertain the intention of the testator.

The next question to be considered is, whether or not the trust is void as being contrary to the provision of the statute. I am unable to see that it in any way conflicts with the statute. There is no suspension of the power of alienation beyond two lives in being under any circumstances. The trust terminates as to one-half of the legacy upon the death of the first [52]*52of the beneficiaries, and as to the balance, it terminates upon the déath of the survivor. Under no circumstances could the trustee hold any portion of the legacy after the death of the survivor. The provisions of the second clause of the will are, therefore, valid.

The next article of the will which is attacked is the fifth clause, which reads as follows : “ I give and bequeath unto the directors of the Union Theological Seminary of the City of New York the sum of ten thousand dollars, to be invested as a permanent fund in stocks or bonds of the United States or of the state of New York, the interest of which shall be given as support to such student or students of said seminary studying with a view to the Christian ministry as shall be selected for the gift by the directors.”

The defendant, Holahan, claims that this legacy is void, because, by law, the Union Theological Seminary had no chartered rights to take, by last will and testament, and permanently invest the principal and expend the interest or income of the gift during all time, “ in support of such student or students of said seminary studying with a view to the Christian ministry as shall be selected for the gift by the directors,” and because no purposes whatever have been enumerated in the act establishing this corporation, and no object to be attained by the creation of the same is set forth in its charter.

The last objection is untenable. The “title” of the act of incorporation sufficiently indicates the purposes and object to be attained by the creation of the same. The act incorporates The Union Theological Seminary; and theological seminary, I think, is universally understood to be an institution in which young men, desiring to enter into the ministry, are instructed in theology; and that the object of the institution was for instruction in Ohristain theology, is evidenced by the fact that one-half o'f its board of directors must be clergymen — a name applied only to ordained ministers belonging to some denomination of Ohristams — and also by the fact [53]*53that none but Christain students have the right to avail themselves of the benefits of the institution. The purposes of the institution are distinctly set forth in the title of the act of incorporation, as well as those of the theological seminary at Auburn, in the preamble of its act of incorporation giving to the words “ theological seminary ” the meaning ordinarily applied thereto, as above stated.

The objection that the legacy being given as support to the students of the seminary, which is not one of the specified purposes of the incorporation of the seminary, cannot be maintained, because, if the object of the incorporation is the instruction in theology, &c., the support of such students would seem to be included in the general scope of the purposes of an institution of that description.

The defendant, Holahan, raises the further objection to this, legacy, that it is void by the provisions of section 6, of chapter 319, of the Laws of 1848. This question being raised as to the validity of several other legacies, its consideration will be reserved for a subsequent portion of this opinion.

The next article of the will which is attacked, is the sixth,, which reads as follows: “ I give and bequeath unto the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions the sum of five thousand dollars.”

There seems to be no serious objection raised against the validity of this legacy.

The next article of the will which is attacked is the seventh, which reads as follows: “ I give and bequeath unto the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions the sum of five thousand dollars.”

In 1862 the legislature of the state of Hew York jjassed an act incorporating the Presbyterian Committee of Home Missions, giving it the power of taking, receiving and holding real and personal estate, and providing that no devise or bequest to such corporation in any will made by an inhabitant of the state, shall be valid unless made and executed at least two months before the death of the testator or testatrix. In [54]*541871 the name of this corporation was changed to that of -“ The Presbyterian Board of Home Missions,” the very title used in the seventh clause of the will under consideration. In 1872 the legislature incorporated the “Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
59 How. Pr. 44, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kerr-v-dougherty-nysupct-1878.