Heck's Estate

Citations

• 170 Pa. 232
• 32 A. 413
• 1895 Pa. LEXIS 1390

Syllabus

<p>Will — Absolute gift of personalty — Gutting down gift.</p> <p>An absolute gift, especially of personalty, is not to be cut down by a later clause in the will unless the testator’s intention to modify the gift is unequivocally expressed.</p> <p>Testator in one clause of his will gave his daughter ten thousand dollars. A subsequent clause of the will was as follows: “It is my wish and desire that my said daughter shall consult fully and freely with her brothers in relation to the investment and management of the ten thousand dollars in money bequeathed by me to her; and further, that she shall not consume any part of the principal thereof, but preserve the same undiminished, and that at her death the said principal sum shall go to the persons entitled under this my will to the real estate herein devised to her for life.” Held, that the daughter took an absolute interest in the legacy, and that the words of the later clause of the will were merely precatory.</p>