Estate of Boies

Citations

• 177 Pa. 190
• 35 A. 724
• 1896 Pa. LEXIS 963

Syllabus

<p>Wills — Construction of — Trusts—Fee simple estate.</p> <p>Testator by his will directed as follows: “All the rest, residue and rer mainder of both my real and personal estate I give, devise and bequeath to my son H., to my daughter M., to my daughter E. and my son Matthew to be equally divided between them on the following conditions: The share going to my son H. and my daughters M. and E. shall be held each of them in trust for their children, and the share going to my son Matthew shall be held in trust by my son H. My son H. shall pay to my son Matthew the income from his share in quarterly payments each and every year during his natural life, and my son H. may in his discretion, in case my said son Matthew shall reform and abstain from the use of intoxicating drinks for two years, pay to him, my said son Matthew, from three thousand to five thousand dollars to enable him to engage in business.” By a codicil testator further directed as follows: “I desire to have it known and understood by all interested in my last will and testament, and I so will, that it is my intention that my children surviving me, to whom I have left property in trust for their children, shall have the free use and benefit during their lives of the income of such trust, without the necessity of accounting to their children for such income, and that they shall have power to sell and reinvest the principal at their discretion, in such manner as shall, in their judgment, best preserve the principal sum for their heirs. Nothing herein, however, is to affect the original provisions of my will concerning my youngest son, Matthew.” Held, that the will created an active trust for Matthew’s protection and benefit, limited in duration to the period of his natural life, without stripping him of authority to dispose of the corpus, by will or otherwise, to take effect at his death.</p> <p>A will must be so construed as to avoid partial intestacy unless the contrary is unavoidable.</p>