Brown v. Brown

Citations

• 101 Kan. 335
• 166 P. 499
• 1917 Kan. LEXIS 88

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>Í. Will — Rule for Interpretation — Intention of Testator. A rule for the interpretation of wills, to which all other rules are subordinate, is that the intention of the testator, as gathered from all parts of the will, is to be given effect and that doubtful or inaccurate expressions in the will shall not override the obvious intention of the testator.</p> <p>2. Will — Certain Provisions of a Joint Will Construed. A provision in a joint will that, “upon the death of either of us, the estate of the other, real, personal and mixed, shall vest in the survivor during the life of such survivor” etc., when read in connection with other parts of the will indicates that the intention meant to be expressed by the testators was that the estate of the deceased should vest in the survivor.</p> <p>3. Will — Construction—Property Bequeathed to Testators’' Children and to Bodily Heirs of Testators’ Deceased Children. A father and mother, each owning property, made a joint will, in effect providing that their respective estates should be kept together as an entirety, and upon the death of either the survivor should take the entire estate with full power to invest it or to dispose of it to parties other than the beneficiaries, and that upon the death of the survivor the property should vest in trustees, who were authorized to invest, change or convert the property of the estate and to manage and control it for a period of fifteen years, after which time it was to be distributed equally among living children and the heirs of the body of deceased children. Such bodily heirs of deceased children were to receive the share the parent would have received if living, and during the trust the trustees were to distribute the net income of the estate in the same proportions. It was specifically provided that if any of. the children of the testators should ■ die leaving a consort, such surviving consort should receive five hundred dollars and no other part of t