Warner v. Bullen

123 Ill. App. 138, 1905 Ill. App. LEXIS 736
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedOctober 25, 1905
DocketGen. No. 4,499
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 123 Ill. App. 138 (Warner v. Bullen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Warner v. Bullen, 123 Ill. App. 138, 1905 Ill. App. LEXIS 736 (Ill. Ct. App. 1905).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Dibell

delivered the opinion of the court.

The last will of Wilder W. Warner, duly probated, contained eighteen paragraphs, the seventh of which was as follows: “ I give, devise and bequeath to my son, Wilmot 8. Warner ” (describing a half lot in Moline) “ provided he pays to Mrs. Lillian Drury, wife of A: R. Drury, the sum of five hundred dollars, this being the total of my bequest to him.” There was no other mention of Wilmot Warner or Mrs. Drury in. the will. Wilmot refused to accept the devise, and other children took the lot under a residuary clause. Mrs. Drury assigned her interest to Henry L. Bullen. By an amended bill against the residuary devisees he sought to enforce a charge upon said lot of land for the payment of said sum provided in said paragraph for Mrs. Drury. The residuary devisees demurred to the amended bill; the demurrer was overruled; they abided by the demurrer and complainant had a decree, from which the residuary devisees prosecute this appeal.

It is well settled that the personal estate is the primary fund for the payment of legacies, and that a legacy will not be charged upon real estate, unless the will expressly so directs, or unless the intention of the testator that the legacy shall be charged upon real estate may fairly be inferred from the language of the will. Many reported cases are found where, though the question was disputed, yet the language of the will was such, when carefully considered, that all reasonable minds must agree that the testator meant the legacy to be a charge upon the land. We pass those cases by to consider cases where wills have bden construed as to this subject, and where the language more nearly resembles that now before the court.

In Bugbee v. Sargent, 23 Me. 269, the will there construed gave Sarah Hast)' §300, to be paid two-thirds by Edward and one-third by Benjamin Sargent in one and two years after they should come into possession of land under the will, and it devised tó Edward two-thirds of a certain lot on condition that he pay Sarah Hasty two-thirds of that legacy, and devised to Benjamin the remaining one-third of the lot on condition that he pay the other third of the legr acy. The suit was a bill in" equity to charge the legacy on. the lot. In sustaining the bill the court said : “ When an estate is devised on condition of, or subject to, the payment of a sum of money, or where the intention of the testator to make an estate, specifically devised, the fund for the payment of a legacy, is clearly exhibited, such legacy is a charge upon the estate.”

In Merrill v. Bickford, 65 Me. 118, the testator gave Bickford a lot of land, and added in the same sentence, “ and said Bickford shall pay or cause to be paid to Thomas H. Merrill, my brother, the sum of $60 per year during the natural lives of said Thomas H. Merrill and his present wfife.” In holding the annuity a charge upon the land devised to Bickford, the court said : “ When the same sentence or clause by which the land is devised imposes upon the devisee the duty of paying an annuity or other sum of money, and no other fund is provided out of which the payment is to be made, such annuity or legacy is a charge upon the land; and if the devisee accepts it he takes it subject to such charge.”

In Perry v. Hale, 44 N. H. 363, a testator devised his farm to his wife during widowhood and then to his son Edgar, a minor, on condition that he should pay testator’s daughter Susan $700 and testator’s daughter Mary Ann $800. Edgar’s guardian occupied the farm for a time and then a trustee took possession. The widow died. Susan filed a bill to require Edgar to pay her legacy, or that the trustee pay it out of the farm. It was argued in defense that as Edgar was not yet of age he had not accepted the devise. It was held, the legacies were charged on the land whether the devise was accepted and took effect or not. The report of the case does not show legacies to Susan and Mary Ann except in the form above stated.

The will involved in Le Rougetel v. Mann, Exr., 63 N. H. 472, contained this paragraph: “I direct my executor hereinafter named to erect a suitable monument to my memory in Greenwood Cemetery, if the same shall not have been completed during my life, and to place a suitable inscription thereon, and the care of the same I commit to him during his life, intending to devise to him my homestead farm and buildings, also four acres of land in Cedar Swamp and an acre of marsh land as hereinafter provided.” Then followed other provisions, and the devise of said lands to the executor. The ■ executor paid the cost of erecting the monument out of the proceeds of other real estate and thereby so reduced the proceeds of said other real estate that there was sufficient left to pay only a part of a certain legacy which the will charged on such other real estate. It was held that it was the intention of the testator as expressed in the will to make the expense of erecting a suitable monument to his memory, and of caring for it during the executor’s life, a charge on the land devised to the. executor described in the part of the will above quoted. The court further said: “if he had said I give my executor the real estate named, and he is to erect a suitable monument to my memory and care for it during his life, it would not have been more certain.”

In Birdsall v. Hewlett, 1 Paige Ch. 32, a testator gave real estate to his widow for life or during her widowhood and after her death or marriage to his nephew James Hewlett in fee, provided he paid legacies mentioned in the will. Then he gave certain legacies and directed that they be paid by his nephew, his heirs, executors or administrators, whenever he or they should come into possession of the premises devised. The devisee and a certain legatee died in the lifetime of the widow. The personal representative of said, deceased legatee filed a bill in equity against the heirs at law of the nephew in possession of the real estate, who refused to pay the legacy. Chancellor Walworth said: “The payment of the legacies is a condition of the devise; and if the devisee or his heirs refuse to accept the devise and pay the legacies, the estate descends to the heirs at law of the devisor; but in equity chargeable with the payment. In this case the devisee, having accepted the devise, was personally liable for the legacies; but they are also an equitable charge upon the estate devised in the hands of the defendants.”

In Harris v. Fly, 7 Paige Ch. 421, a testator devised a farm to his' son in fee, subject to the life estate of his mother, and gave to each of two daughters $1,000, to be paid to them by said son, the devisee of the real estate, in six annual payments, the first to be made in one year after the death of the mother. There was a residuary devise and bequest to the son after payment of debts and legacies. The son entered into possession, and his interest in the land was sold under execution and purchased by Fly, and Fly obtained a deed from the sheriff and mortgaged the property to Harris. This was a bill to foreclose the mortgage, and one of said sisters and the legal representatives of the other, deceased, claimed a lien on the lands for the payment of the legacies. The court said: “The testator does not in terms create an equitable charge upon the devised premises for the payment of the two legacies to the daughters. But .that was not necessary, as the charge of a legacy upon the real estate of the testator, either in aid of, or in exoneration of, the personalty, may be, and frequently is, created by implication merely.

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Related

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Bluebook (online)
123 Ill. App. 138, 1905 Ill. App. LEXIS 736, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/warner-v-bullen-illappct-1905.