Chamberlain's Estate

Citations

• 54 Pa. Super. 434
• 1913 Pa. Super. LEXIS 80

Syllabus

<p>Wills — Election by husband against will — Legacy—Husband and wife.</p> <p>1. Where an attorney at law named as executor of a will is bequeathed a sum stated “for services heretofore rendered and as compensation for discharging the duties of his trust under this will,” and the husband of the testatrix elects to take against the will, and thereafter the real estate of the testatrix is sold for the payment of debts, the husband will be entitled to take the balance of the proceeds after the payment of debts, to hold for his life, and the executor will be postponed until the death of the husband as to the whole legacy, if he offers no proof of services rendered to the testatrix prior to her death.</p> <p>2. A testator cannot defeat the rights of a surviving husband or wife, or of a creditor by directing in his will that an exorbitant compensation shall be paid to some person for past services, when no indebtedness for those services actually exists.</p>