Hawaiian Trust Co. v. McMullan

Citations

• 23 Haw. 685

Syllabus

<p>Annuities — nature of interest of annuitant.</p> <p>Ordinarily a gift of an annuity to a person, without words of limitation or other significant language is to be regarded as a gift of the annuity during the life of the annuitant, but where an annuity is given to one for a specified period of time, an intent is to be inferred that it was not to terminate with the life of the annuitant. Held, accordingly, that where property was given by will to a trustee to hold until the death of the last survivor of a number of annuitants and for twenty-one years thereafter, to pay certain annuities and to accumulate the unapplied income, and then divide the trust estate “among those persons entitled at that time to the aforementioned annuities,” an annuity payable to the children of S. P. “for life and then to their heirs” the interest of the heirs in the annuity was for the entire period of the trust, and upon the death of one his share became payable to his heirs.</p> <p>Descent and Disteibution — conflict of laws — succession of interest in personal property.</p> <p>The right to an annuity payable out of the income of a fund held in trust, being personal property, is distributable, upon the death of the annuitant intestate, according to the laws of the country where the decedent was domiciled at the time of his death.</p>