Frost v. McCaulley

Citations

• 7 Del. Ch. 162

Syllabus

<p>Wills — construction of; Legacies — vested or contingent; Gift — enjoyment of, postponed by the will.</p> <p>1. When no time is fixed by the testator for the division of the estate directed in the will, it becomes, the duty of the court to fix such a time as will best aid in carrying into effect the uses, intents and purposes for which the trust created in the will was established.</p> <p>2. The testator, by will, gave his executors power to incumber his estate at their discretion, and then to sell it and divide the proceeds into eleven shares. As to the last of these shares, he provided as follows: “ The income of one other, and the last of said shares or parts, I give to F. H. F., payable half yearly for ten years, after which time I give the .same to her absolutely.” In another part of the will, he provided that: “ And I hereby authorize my executors, and trustees, at their discretion, to pay to any of my children who may need it, such sums from time to time, before the estate is settled, as they may deem needful and proper; the same to be accounted for as part of the income of their shares in my estate respectively.” Held,</p> <p>a. That the gift to F. H. F. was an absolute vested legacy, - but that it would have been otherwise had it been a gift of the principal, without the gift of the) income during the interval between the death of the testator and the expiration of ten years thereafter.</p> <p>b. That the ten years is to be calculated from the date of the death of the testator and not from the date of the settlement by the executors.</p>