Estate of Patterson

Citations

• 173 Pa. 185
• 34 A. 117
• 1896 Pa. LEXIS 680

Syllabus

<p>Will — Legacy—Contingent bequest.</p> <p>Testator after creating an annuity for Ms wife and giving legacies of $30,000 each to Ms four sisters, gave the residue of Ms estate to his only •child. He further directed as follows : “And if, at the expiration of ten years after my death the interest which I now possess in the Pittsburgh Steel Casting Company shall continue profitable, I then direct that $20,000 •of an additional legacy be paid to each of my four sisters, but such payment shall be altogether discretionary with my executors.” The dividends paid on testator’s interest in the Casting Company for the seven years prior to Ms death were over $50,000. For the year prior to his death $22,000; for the ten years after his death about $11,000. The market value of the interest fell from $200,000 at the time of his death to about $50,000 ten years after his death. Held, that the additional legacies to testator’s sistefs were payable only out of the profits of the Casting Company, and that the contingency upon which they were payable had not happened.</p>