Welch v. Adams

25 N.E. 34, 152 Mass. 74, 1890 Mass. LEXIS 24
CourtMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
DecidedJune 23, 1890
StatusPublished
Cited by39 cases

This text of 25 N.E. 34 (Welch v. Adams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Welch v. Adams, 25 N.E. 34, 152 Mass. 74, 1890 Mass. LEXIS 24 (Mass. 1890).

Opinion

Devens, J.

The plaintiffs, who bring this bill for instructions, are the executors of the will of Isaac Adams, which is dated May 13, 1879. Isaac Adams had his legal domicil in the State of New Hampshire, and died on July 19, 1883. His will having been admitted to probate in New Hampshire, the present plaintiffs have there received letters testamentary, under which they have duly qualified, the decree of the proper Probate Court having been finally affirmed by the Supreme Court of that State on August 6, 1885. All the testator’s personal estate, except household effects, farming implements, etc., was in Massachusetts. On November 26, 1883, by reason of the necessary delay in granting letters testamentary in respect to the testator’s personal estate in this Commonwealth, which was large, the plaintiffs were duly appointed special administrators thereof, with authority to take charge of his real estate, and gave bond for the faithful performance of their duties as such. On March 7, 1887, upon the petition of the plaintiffs, after due notice, it was ordered by a decree of the Probate Court for the county of Suffolk, that a copy of the will and the probate thereof in New Hampshire, duly authenticated and presented to that court, should be filed and recorded, and letters testamentary be granted to the plaintiffs. Pub. Sts. c. 127, §§ 15-17. Prom this decree an appeal was taken; the decree was affirmed on October 5, 1887, by this court; and the plaintiffs, having here received letters testamentary, have qualified and proceeded to act under them.

[76]*76By this bill the plaintiffs seek instructions as to the payment of two legacies given by the will, or rather of the interest claimed to be due thereon, one being a legacy of $64,000 to Mrs. Anna R. Adams, wife of the testator, and the other of $5,000 to Julius Adams, his son. Mrs. Adams having deceased since the death of the testator, Julius Adams has been appointed her administrator with the will annexed. It is found that the personal estate in the hands of the executors is more than sufficient, after paying all debts and other legacies, to pay all sums which are claimed on account of these legacies.

By the Pub. Sts. c. 127, § 34, and c. 156, §§ 5, 6, the Supreme Judicial Court and the Probate Court have concurrent jurisdiction of a petition by an executor for instructions as to the construction of the will; and from the decree of the Probate Court any party aggrieved may appeal to this court.

Assuming for the moment that the subjects on which the bill requests instructions present inquiries such as in ordinary cases, where the testator has been domiciled here and original administration has been here granted, could properly be addressed to this court, it is to be considered whether the matter is in any way affected by the fact that the testator was domiciled in New Hampshire, and that the original probate of his will was' in that State. In dealing with personal property here found, the executors are accountable to the Probate Court in this Commonwealth, and there is no duty imposed upon them to transfer it or its proceeds to New Hampshire, to be there administered, even after the payment of the debts in this State. On the contrary, it would be irregular so to do, unless an order to that effect was made by the Probate Court.

The Pub. Sts. c. 138, § 1, provide, in the case of administration taken in this State on the estate of an inhabitant of any other State or country, that “ his estate found here shall, after payment of his debts, be disposed of according to his last will, if he left any, duly executed according to law ”; otherwise, his real estate is to descend according to the laws of this Commonwealth, and his personal estate is to be distributed and disposed of according to the law of the State or country of which he was an inhabitant. Section 2 provides that, after payment of the debts in this Commonwealth, “ the residue of the personal estate may [77]*77be distributed and disposed of in manner aforesaid by tbe Probate Court; or, in the discretion of the court, it may be transmitted to the executor or administrator, if any, in the State or country where the deceased had his domicil, to be there disposed of according to the laws thereof.” Sections 3, 4, and 5 provide for the settlement of the estate in this Commonwealth if it is insolvent, and are intended to enable creditors here to obtain an equal share, in proportion to their respective claims, of the whole property, whether within or without the Commonwealth. This statute certainly gives the right to the Probate Court here to dispose of the estate according to the will as originally proved in another State. In leaving it in its discretion to determine whether, after the payment of debts here, the residue of the personal property shall be transmitted to another jurisdiction, the statute is only declaratory of a general principle often acted on. Stevens v. Gaylord, 11 Mass. 256, 264. Harvey v. Richards, 1 Mason, 381. Ewing v. Orr Ewing, 9 App. Cas. 34, 39. Ewing v. Orr Ewing, 10 App. Cas. 453, 502. It is said by Mr. Justice Story, in discussing the question whether a court in which ancillary administration had been granted ought to entertain a decree for final distribution of the assets among the various claimants having equities or rights in the fund, that such court is not incompetent to act upon the matter, and that whether it will do- so, or whether it will transmit the property to the forum of the domicil of the deceased, is a matter of judicial discretion, dependent on the circumstances of the case. “There can be,” he adds, “ and ought to be, no universal rule on the subject. But every nation is bound to lend the aid of its own judicial tribunals for the purpose of enforcing the rights of all persons having a title to the fund, when such interference will not be productive of injustice, or inconvenience, or conflicting equities, which may call upon such tribunals for abstinence in the exercise of the jurisdiction.” 1 Story, Eq. Jur. § 589.

If the property had been transmitted to another jurisdiction, this court would not undertake to construe the will or determine how the estate should be distributed, or how interest should be computed on the legacies. Emery v. Batchelder, 132 Mass. 452. But the personal property is here, and was so when the testator deceased; it is ample for the payment of the legacies immedi[78]*78ately in question, as well as of all other legacies or debts, whatever may be the interest thereon; the legatees are also here, as well as the residuary legatees, who are the only persons who can be affected by any determination as to these legacies, and no such case is presented as might be if the marshalling and distribution of the whole estate was now to be considered. Under such circumstances, it does not constitute a valid objection to the giving of instructions, that the testator was domiciled in another State, or that his will was originally proved there.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
25 N.E. 34, 152 Mass. 74, 1890 Mass. LEXIS 24, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/welch-v-adams-mass-1890.