Langley v. . Westchester Trust Co.

73 N.E. 44, 180 N.Y. 326, 18 Bedell 326, 1905 N.Y. LEXIS 1084
CourtNew York Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 24, 1905
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 73 N.E. 44 (Langley v. . Westchester Trust Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Langley v. . Westchester Trust Co., 73 N.E. 44, 180 N.Y. 326, 18 Bedell 326, 1905 N.Y. LEXIS 1084 (N.Y. 1905).

Opinion

Haight, J.

This action was brought to construe the will of Francis C. Fleming and to establish title in the plaintiff to one-sixtli of the decedent’s estate.

Francis C. Fleming died in February, 1882, in Westchester county, leaving a last will and testament, which was duly admitted to probate by the surrogate of that county on the 8th day of March, .1882. After making some provisions which are not material to be now considered, he directed his executrix and executors to take out of his estate sufficient money to purchase fifty thousand dollars of bonds, either of the Hnited States, State of Hew York, or city of Hew York, and to set them aside as a separate and distinct fund in trust, with direction for his executrix and executors to collect and receive the interest and income therefrom and to pay the same over quarterly to Mary F. Oowie of the city of Hew York for and during her life. He then provided that “ after the death of said Mary F. Oowie, I hereby give and bequeath the said fifty thousand dollars of bonds so to be purchased to my sister Anna Fleming Kimball and my brothers Walter Fleming and Henry Fleming to be equally divided between the three, share and share alike.” He then, by the fourth subdivision of his will, provided that “ After my executrix and executors have paid my just debts and'set aside the aforesaid sum of fifty thousand dollars of bonds as above directed, then it is my will and I give and bequeath to my said executrix and executors all the rest, residue and remainder of my estate real and personal, in trust, however, and for the uses and purposes following, that is to say: I direct my said executrix and executors to invest and reinvest all the said rest, residue and remainder of my estate from time to time as occasion may *329 require, and to collect and receive the interest and income thereof, and pay the same to my mother Frances A. Fleming and my father Thomas Fleming in equal proportions during their lives, such payments to be made quarter-yearly or as much oftener as my executrix and executors shall see fit, After the death of either, the survivor shall be paid the whole of the interest or income derived from such residue of my estate during his or her life.”

By the fifth subdivision of the will he provided that “ After the death of both my father and mother, I give, devise "and bequeath the said rest, residue and remainder of my estate to my sister Anna Fleming Kimball and my brothers Walter Fleming and Henry Fleming, their heirs and assigns forever, to be equally divided between them share and share alike.”

Walter Fleming, the brother of the decedent, died after the will was executed but before the death of the testator, and the question raised for review has reference to the disposition of the estate that was devised and bequeathed to Walter Fleming. We think that the disposition made of the estate below must be approved, except in one particular. The provision made for Walter, doubtless, lapsed by reason of his death before that of the testator, and, under the provision of the. will, we think the brothers and sisters took distributively and not as a class. (Matter of Russell, 168 N. Y. 169; Moffett v. Elmendorf, 152 N. Y. 475 ; Matter of Kimberly, 150 N. Y. 90.) We also are of the opinion that the one-sixth part of the estate in controversy did not pass under the assignment by Mrs. Skinner to Mrs. Sutherland by the agreement of February 9, 1893, for the reasons stated by the trial c^art, but we entertain a different view as to the proper construction of the will with reference to the disposition of the remainder of the trust fund set apart for the benefit of Mary F. Cowie during her lifetime. As we have seen, after the fifty thousand dollars of bonds had been set apart, then the testator devised and bequeathed all the rest, residue and remainder of his estate to his executrix and executors in trust for the benefit of his father and mother during their lives. Here we have a *330 residuary trust created, which includes all that may remain of his estate, and, under the general rule, all legacies which may., lapse or may be invalid become part of the residuum. (Moffett v. Elmendorf, supra ; Morton v. Woodbury, 153 N. Y. 243 ; Kerr v. Dougherty, 79 N. Y. 327; Matter of Benson, 96 N. Y. 499, 509.) It is contended, however, that the creation of the residuary trust after the Cowie trust of fifty thousand dollars of bonds indicates an intention on the part of the testator to exclude from the residuary trust all of that which was included in the former trust, and the words “ after” and “then” are relied upon as indicating such intention.

In the case of Carter v. Board of Education of the Presbyterian Church (144 N. Y. 621) the will, after giving certain specific legacies, provided that “ whatsoever moneys may remain in the hands of my said executors after paying the foregoing bequests ” should be paid to the parties particularly specified. Two of the legacies were declared to be invalid and the contention was that the words “ after the payment of the foregoing bequests ” indicated an intention not to include in the residuary estate the invalid bequests, and that he, consequently, died intestate as to those items. It was, however, held that the invalid bequests passed into the residuary estate. Gray, J., in delivering the opinion of the court, said : “ While the words ‘ after the payment of the foregoing bequests ’ in the residuary clause might, in some cases, be deemed to circumscribe and confine the residue, so that a residuary legatee would not be entitled to any benefit accruing from lapses, that effect would be given to them because they would illustrate an intention which was apparent from-the will. Judge Earl’s observations in Matter of Accounting of Benson (96 N. Y. 499) are to be taken, not as laying down an absolute rule that a residuary clause is necessarily circumscribed by the insertion of such words, but as suggesting that they might evidence an intention on the part of the testator that the residue is to be confined to so much only as would remain after deducting from the estate the aggregate amount of all previous bequests. Such an intention, however, we think the rest of the will must *331 fairly warrant in order to override the general rule. In the present case it seems to us very evident that no such intention is to be gathered from the terms of this will. It is evident that by the direction to his executors to convert all his property into money and to dispose of it as thereafter directed he intended to create a fund and to wholly dispose of it by the subsequent provisions of the will. He did not propose to die intestate as to any part of the fund which would result from the conversion of his estate. When he subsequently directs that whatever moneys may remain in the hands of my said executors after the payment of the foregoing bequests ’ are to be divided and paid out in certain proportions to certain residuary legatees, while it is clear that he intended the specific bequests to take effect, it is equally clear that he intended making a testamentary disposition of all of his estate and such an intention is only effectuated by carrying into the residuary estate any prior ineffectual bequests.

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Bluebook (online)
73 N.E. 44, 180 N.Y. 326, 18 Bedell 326, 1905 N.Y. LEXIS 1084, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/langley-v-westchester-trust-co-ny-1905.