Kinkele v. Wilson

29 N.Y.S. 27, 9 Misc. 139, 59 N.Y. St. Rep. 741
CourtNew York Court of Common Pleas
DecidedJune 4, 1894
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 29 N.Y.S. 27 (Kinkele v. Wilson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Common Pleas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kinkele v. Wilson, 29 N.Y.S. 27, 9 Misc. 139, 59 N.Y. St. Rep. 741 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1894).

Opinion

BOOKSTAVER, J.

Henry C. Giles died April 27, 1887, leaving a last will and testament, and a codicil thereto, both of which were duly admitted to probate in this county. George B. Patterson, one of the executors named in the will, qualified as such, and has taken charge of the estate, which consisted of a small amount of personal property, and the premises known as “Nos. 163, 165, and 175 Canal Street,” in this city. Emma Giles, the defendant herein, and the widow of Henry C. Giles, remarried February 11, 1891. The ex[28]*28ecutor did not know of this until some months after it took place, and paid her the entire income of the estate up to May 1, 1891. Since that time he has paid her at the rate of $2,000 per annum, and the remainder of the income is still in his hands. Plaintiffs seek an accounting by the defendant, for all moneys received by her since her remarriage, and that she pay over to each of them one-third of the net income of the estate since that time, less the sum -of $2,000. Whether the action will lie or not depends upon the construction to be given to certain portions of the will and codicil. The testator, in his will, after providing for the payment of his debts and funeral expenses, directed that the rents and income of his estate should be paid to his wife, Emma, the defendant herein,, “so long, during her natural life, as she shall remain my widow and unmarried.” If she should remarry, he directed that the sum of $2,000 annually should be paid to her at specified periods during her life. Subject to this provision for his widow, he gave, devised, •and bequeathed his estate in equal shares to certain relatives, including the plaintiffs. The will also provided that the above-named provisions for testator’s wife should be in lieu of dower and every other right or interest she might have in the estate. By the codicil the testator changed his will as follows:

“In addition to the provisions which in and by my said will I have made lor the benefit of my beloved wife, Emma Giles, I do give and bequeath unto her all my household goods and furniture absolutely, as and for her •own property, and to be at her own disposal: And also I do give, devise, and bequeath unto my said wife in fee simple, all the one equal third of my real estates,” etc.; “and these gifts are to take effect whether or not she shall remarry after my death, if she shall survive me.”

He then revokes his devise to certain nieces, and continues:

“Hereby declaring that it is my will that my brother William P. Giles and my nephew John G. Kinkele shall take, in equal shares, the portion of my estate which, in and by my said will, is given, devised, and bequeathed to them and to my said two nieces, * * * saving and excepting therefrom the one equal third part of my real estate and the household goods and furniture which I have herein given, devised, and bequeathed to my said wife, Emma Giles.”

Appellants contend that, since the remarriage of the respondent, they are each entitled to one-third of the net annual income of the estate, after deducting $2,000 awarded the widow annually by the will, while respondent contends that she is entitled to one-third •of the entire net income of the estate, and to $2,000 more. In other words, if the entire net income of the estate were $6,000, she would be entitled to $4,000, while the devisees of two-thirds, of the estate would be entitled to only $1,000 each. Respondent bases this contention on the language of that part of the codicil before quoted, and insists that the whole of the first part of it should be read as ■one sentence, and that inasmuch as the first clause gives the household goods and furniture to the respondent “absolutely, as and for her own property, to be at her own disposal,” so the second clause, connected, as she claims, by the words “and also,” devised one-third of the real estate to her in like manner, i. e. as and for her own property, to be at her disposal. But this seems to us to be a [29]*29very inartificial and forced construction of the sentence. Had this, been the intention of the testator, the natural construction of the sentence would have been to have placed the words “absolutely,, as and for her own property, and to be at her own disposal,” after both the gift and the devise, so that they would have controlled, both clauses of the sentence. While it is true, as respondent contends, that the word “also” has the meaning of “in like manner,”' it more frequently means “too; further; in addition to” (Imperial Diet.; Webst. Diet., ad haec verba); and this we think the plain and natural meaning in the sentence under consideration. Thus, read, the whole sentence is plain and unambiguous. The first clause, commencing with “In addition to,” gives the personal property to the widow absolutely; the second clause, commencing with “And. also,” devises one-third of the realty to her in addition to the personalty, but subject to whatever charge there was upon the whole-realty,—the change of language from “In addition to” to “And also”' being made to avoid the repetition of the same words, and not because the meaning had changed. So far on the theory that all was. intended as one sentence; but this we think was not the intention.. Some error has crept into the codicil as it stands. The gift of the-personal property is separated from the devise of the realty by-a colon, while the “and” in the devising clause is written writh a capital letter. No ordinary copyist, and certainly no one capable-of drafting a will, would write the conjunction “and” with a capital in the middle of a sentence, any more than he would “if” or “or.” It is far more likely that the copyist, through error or mere inadvertence, put two dots where one should have been written, than, that he should have written “and” with a capital A. If this is so,, then we have two complete sentences, one containing a gift to the widow absolutely, free from all charges, and the other a devise subject to any charge then existing on the realty.

The respondent also insists that the use of the words “In addition to” frees the devise of the one equal third of the real estate to her from the charge on the remainder of the real estate. But, as we have-before shown, these words only mean that the widow was to have-something in addition to the $2,000 left her by the will in case-of her remarriage. This additional something was—First, personal property, which the testator was careful to provide should be free from every charge by giving it to her absolutely in every event;, and, second, one-third of the realty which he devised without any such provision.

Nor do we think that the words “in fee simple” at all aid respondent’s contention. “Fee simple” is defined by Bouvier to be “a pure estate of inheritance, not restrained by any heirs, nor subject to any condition or collateral determination except the law of' escheat.” 2 Bouv. Law Diet. p. 215. The word “simple” adds no-meaning to the word “fee,” standing by itself; but it excludes all qualification or restriction as to the persons who may inherit it as heirs, thus distinguishing it from fee tail, as well as from an estate-which, though inheritable, is subject to conditions or collateral determination. 1 Washb. Beal Prop. 51. The phrase does not mean-[30]*30that the fee is to be absolutely free from all incumbrances or charges. The -words would have been apt and appropriate had the real estate been mortgaged for two-thirds of its value.. But in that event no one would have argued that these words released the widow’s share ¡from the incumbrance of the mortgage, and why should they from the .charge to pay the widow’s annuity?

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
29 N.Y.S. 27, 9 Misc. 139, 59 N.Y. St. Rep. 741, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kinkele-v-wilson-nyctcompl-1894.