About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

John Smith T., Plaintiff v. Robert Bell, Defendant 68 (1832)

handle is hein.slavery/ussccases0131 and id is 1 raw text is: 68                   SUPREME COURT.
JOHN SMITH T., PLAINTIFF V. ROBERT BELL, DEFENDANT,
The will of B. G. contained the following clause: also, I give to my wife
Elizabeth Goodwin, all my personal estate whatsoever and wheresoever, and
of what nature, kind and quality  ocvi-r, after payment of my debts, legacie.s
and funeral expenses, which personal-estate I give ijd bequeath unto my said
wife, Elizabeth Goodiin, to and for her own use and dispoal ahsolutely: the
remainder after her decease to be for the use of the said Jesse Goodwin, th
son of the testator. Jesse Goodwin took a vested remainder in the personal
estate, which came into possession after the death of Elizabeth Goodwin.
In this case it is impossible to mistake the intent. The testator unquestionably
intended to make a present provision for his wife, and a future provision for
his son. The intention can be defeated only by expunging or rendering to-
tally inoperative the last clause of the will. In doing so, a long series of opi-
nions, making the intention of the testator the polar star to guide in the cun-
struction of wills, must be disregarded, because we find words which indicate
an intention to permit the first taker to use part of the estate bequeathed
The first and gieat rule in the exposition of wills, to which all rules must bend,
is, that the intention of the testator expressed in his will shall prevail, provided
it be consistent with the rules of law. This piinciple is generally asserted in
the construction of every testamentary disposition. It is emphatically the will
of the person who makes it, and is defined to be the legal declaration of a
man's intentions, which he wills to be performed after his death. These in-
tentions are to be collecte d from his words; and ought to be carried intoeffect
if they be consistent with law.
In the construction of ambiguous expressions, the situation of the parties may
very properly be taken into view. The ties which connect the testator with
his legatees, the affection subsisting between them, the motives which may
reasonably be supposed to operate with him, and to influence him in the dis-
position of his property, are all entitled to consideration in expounding doubt-
ful words, and ascertaining the meaning in which the testator used them.
The rule that a remainder may be limited after a life estate in personal property,
is as well settled as any other principle of our law. The attempt to create
such limitation is not opposed by the policy of the law, or by any of its rules.
If the intention to create such limitation is manifested in a will, the courts
will sustain it.
It is stated in many cases that where there are two intents, inconsistent with
each other, that which is primary will control that which is secondary.
Notwithstanding the reasonableness and good sense of the general rule, that the
intention shall prevail, it has been sometimes disregarded. If the testator at-
tempts to affect that which the law forbids, his will must 3ield to the rules of
law; but courts have sometimes gone further. The construction put upon
words in one will has been supposed to furnish a rule for construirig the same
words in other wills; and thereby to furnish some settled and fixed rules of
construction, which ought to be respected. We cannot say this principle
ought to be totally disregarded; but it should never be carried so far as to de-
feat the plain intent, if that intent may be carried into execution without vio-
lating the rules of law. It has been said truly,  that caqP,1 on iills inV gile

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most