Estate of Mannerback

Citations

• 133 Pa. 342
• 19 A. 552
• 1890 Pa. LEXIS 908

Syllabus

<p>(as) By his will, a testator gave to his son Samuel the one fourth part of the residue of his estate, real, personal and mixed, with a provision that - Samuel should receive the interest only on said share during life, and at his death his children should take absolutely and without restriction “ the share so limited to their parent during his natural life.”</p> <p>(6) The will provided, further, that should Samuel, who was at its date in his minority, die “ before attaining the age of twenty-one years, without leaving issue living at the time of his death,” then the share or interest, which would otherwise vest in him or his children, should vest in and be divided among the testator’s children and their children.</p> <p>(c) A trustee was appointed, by the will, to invest the fund and pay the interest to Samuel during his life, with a provision that the interest should not be liable for Samuel’s debts, or transferable by way of anticipation, and that nothing but Samuel’s receipt should be a sufficient discharge to the trustee. Samuel died after majority, leaving creditors, a widow, and a minor child:</p> <p>1. The rule in Shelley’s Case was inapplicable, because, the trust being active, the life-estate given to Samuel was an equitable one merely, and the remainder was a legal estate; moreover, the word “ children,” ordinarily a word of purchase and not of limitation, was such in this will, and the word “ issue,” in the limitation over on Samuel’s death in his minority, was used in the sense of children.*</p> <p>2. Wherefore, neither the creditors nor the widow of Samuel had any claim upon the fund held in trust for him during his life, the award of any part of it to either of them was contrary to the general intent of the testator and the express terms of the bequest, and his surviving child was entitled to the principal of the fund, taking under the will and not as heir.</p>