Loesch's Estate

23 Pa. D. & C. 606, 1935 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 171
CourtPennsylvania Orphans' Court, Erie County
DecidedJuly 31, 1935
Docketno. 203
StatusPublished

This text of 23 Pa. D. & C. 606 (Loesch's Estate) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Orphans' Court, Erie County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Loesch's Estate, 23 Pa. D. & C. 606, 1935 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 171 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1935).

Opinion

Waite, P. J.,

This matter is before the court on petition of Anna M. Loesch, widow of Eugen Loesch, deceased, asking that the executors of said estate be directed to make payment to her out of the personal estate of the sum of $15,000 provided for in an antenuptial agreement and that the unpaid balance, if any, be made a lien upon decedent’s real estate.

The answer filed admits that petitioner under said agreement is entitled to the sum of $15,000 to be paid out of the decedent’s personal estate, but denies that any part of the same may be made a lien upon decedent’s real estate, avers that there is sufficient personal estate for the payment of the said amount, and further alleges that the said decedent in his lifetime purchased with his own funds five certain bonds and mortgages having a face value of $18,000, title to which was taken in the joint names of decedent and petitioner, and intended as payment or security for the payment of the sum provided for in the said antenuptial agreement.

It was urged by the attorney for the petitioner at the hearing and subsequently at the argument that the petitioner claims title to the said bonds and mortgages as a gift from decedent in his lifetime in addition to the amount provided for in the antenuptial agreement.

The $15,000 payment provided for in the antenuptial agreement, if not paid during the lifetime of Eugen Loesch, upon his death became a debt of his estate, but could only be made a lien on his real estate as provided in the Fiduciaries Act of June 7, 1917, P. L. 447, sec. 15 (a), as amended by the Act of June 7,1919, P. L. 412, sec. 1. The proceedings to make this debt a lien upon decedent’s real estate is in the court of common pleas. The orphans’ court has no jurisdiction for that purpose. See Conner’s Estate, 302 Pa. 534. Nor does the fact that the payment of the amount specified in the antenuptial agreement is directed in testator’s will, make it a lien or charge against his real estate, there being no provision therein so directing. See Cable’s Appeal, 91 Pa. 327. This mat[609]*609ter is not very important in this ease, since, according to the testimony of one of the executors, and shown by the account filed, there are ample funds in decedent’s personal estate for the payment of the amount provided for. The important question before the court is whether the petitioner is entitled to retain the said bonds and mortgages in addition to the payment provided for in the said agreement.

To determine this question it is necessary to take into consideration not only the terms of the agreement but all the surrounding facts and circumstances, including the subsequent transaction between the parties. The fact that the parties were well along in years and had accumulated separate estates of their ov/n, that deceased had been married before and had children by that marriage are all circumstances to be taken into account: Krug’s Estate, 196 Pa. 484; Neely’s Appeal, 23 W. N. C. 336; Tiernan v. Binns et al., 92 Pa. 248, 253. The general rules governing the construction of contracts apply to antenuptial agreements: 30 C. J. 646, sec. 210; Shoch v. Shoch’s Execs., 19 Pa. 252.

Under the terms of this agreement alone, the wife can take only the $15,000 therein provided for. It has been well said that it is a rule not only of law but of common sense not to attempt to construe that which needs no construction. The difficulty here is not as to the terms of the agreement but as to their application to the existing conditions and subsequent events.

In 30 C. J. 650, sec. 214, it is said:

“A marriage settlement will cover after-acquired property where it is apparent from the terms of the settlement that it was the manifest intention of the parties to include such property, and it is not necessary that the intention to apply the agreement to future acquired property should be expressly stated in the contract, where this intention may be gathered from the general tenor of the instrument.”

In In re Hewett, 1 L. R., Ch. Div. 362 [1894], it is held [610]*610that a wife’s joint interest in a personal estate created by an instrument subsequent to the marriage settlement is included. See 30. C. J. 650, note 41 [a] (2).

Eugen Loesch died March 25, 1933, leaving a last will and testament dated June 17, 1925. On September 15, 1920, said decedent, being then 62 years of age and about to be married to Anna M. Reddinger, then 40 years of age, entered into an antenuptial agreement with her which was recorded the same day. The contracting parties were married October 2, 1920, and lived together as husband and wife until his death. No issue was born as a result of this marriage. Eugen Loesch had retired from business, had been married before, and had by the former marriage two sons and one daughter, residuary legatees under his will, all of whom survived him. Both decedent and petitioner had separate estates. Under the circumstances it was quite proper that they should enter into an agreement to fix their respective rights in their individual estates and thereby endeavor to prevent controversy concerning the distribution of their estates after the death of either. It cannot be doubted that a man and woman sui juris may make a valid antenuptial agreement as to the separate property of each which if fairly made without fraud or concealment the courts are bound to recognize and enforce. Having made such an agreement both are bound by it. Nothwithstanding such agreement either spouse may during his lifetime or by a last will and testament make additional provisions for or gifts to the other. In the absence of a valid agreement to the contrary, both husband and wife will take after the death of the other property standing in their joint names as husband and wife. But when there is a valid antenuptial agreement, its terms and the subsequent transactions between parties and all of the surrounding circumstances must be taken into consideration in determining whether the property passing from a deceased spouse to the survivor is intended as a fulfillment of the agreement or is an additional gift or provision for the other. And when, [611]*611after the death of one spouse, property is claimed by the survivor in excess of the amount provided for by the terms of the agreement the burden is upon the claimant to satisfy the court of his or her claim thereto and especially so when by a fair interpretation of the agreement the property given or transferred or made to secure such payment is in general conformity with the payment provided for in the antenuptial agreement. In the absence of the antenuptial agreement, petitioner as surviving widow of testator, would, on his death, take the title to any real estate or mortgages and their accompanying bonds standing in their joint names. As between husband and wife the law would raise a presumption that this was intended as a gift to the surviving widow. But the said agreement itself provides that her claim on his estate shall be limited to the $15,000 therein provided for. That the taking of title to the $18,000 in mortgages and bonds in their joint names was intended as a payment of, or as security for the payment of, the $15,000 specified in the agreement is entirely consistent with the terms of the antenuptial agreement especially in view of the depreciation in the value of said securities since the date of the agreement and the purchase of the several mortgages.

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

Related

Tolon v. Johnson
1924 OK 882 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1924)
Watson v. Stone
1918 OK 124 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1918)
Conner's Estate
153 A. 730 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1931)
Haendler's Estate
81 Pa. Super. 168 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1923)
Shoch v. Shoch's Executors
19 Pa. 252 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1852)
Hammer v. Freese
19 Pa. 255 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1852)
Dillinger's Appeal
35 Pa. 357 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1860)
Cable's Appeal
91 Pa. 327 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1879)
Tiernan v. Binns
92 Pa. 248 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1880)
Ludwig's Appeal
101 Pa. 535 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1882)
Miller v. Baker
28 A. 648 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1894)
Miller v. Baker
31 A. 121 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1894)
Krug's Estate
46 A. 484 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1900)
Herr's Appeal
5 Watts & Serg. 494 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1843)
Ward v. Ward
22 A. 149 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1890)
Collins v. Phillips
102 N.E. 796 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1913)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
23 Pa. D. & C. 606, 1935 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 171, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/loeschs-estate-paorphcterie-1935.