Harned's Estate

Citations

• 273 Pa. 237
• 116 A. 895
• 1922 Pa. LEXIS 556

Syllabus

<p>Wills — -Construction—Life estate — Remainders—Survivorship— Estate per autre vie.</p> <p>1. Where a testatrix gives her estate in trust to her husband for life and upon his death one-third thereof to one daughter for her life and the remaining two-thirds to two other daughters for the life of the first, she may also create a survivorship as between such two daughters.</p> <p>2. If testatrix directs that, upon the first daughter dying without issue her surviving, and in the event of the other two daughters dying intestate and without children them surviving, the estate shall go to the testatrix’s heirs at law, the gift to the heirs does not take effect if it appears that both of the two daughters died in the lifetime of their sister, one intestate and without issue, but the other testate and without issue.</p> <p>3. In such case each of the two daughters had an implied power of appointment by will, and one having died leaving a will by which she gave her interest to her sister, who, however, predeceased her, for life, and then over to nieces, such nieces, after the death of the first sister, are entitled to take, on final distribution, as against the heirs of testatrix.</p> <p>Bes adjudicata — Construction of will by Superior Court — Income — Principal—Adoption of construction of will by Supreme Court.</p> <p>4. While a decision of the Superior Court on a question of the distribution of income under a will, may not be res adjudicata on a question of distributing the corpus of the estate, yet such construction, if applicable and proper, will be adopted by the Supreme Court in distributing the principal.</p>