In re Estate of Moran

Citations

• 13 Pa. Super. 251
• 1900 Pa. Super. LEXIS 142

Syllabus

<p>Wills — Construction of — Decedents' estates — Vested legacies.</p> <p>Where a provision in a will is not a substantive gift, but only a direction to pay at a fixed time after testator’s death, and the legatee survives the testator but dies before the maturity of the gift, the question as to whether the legacy is vested or not depends upon whether the testator intended it as a condition precedent that the legatee should survive the time appointed by him for the payment of the legacy; and the answer to this must be sought for out of the whole will, and not in the particular expressions in which the gift is made.</p> <p>Wills — Legacies—Charge on land.</p> <p>If it appears from the language of the will that the testator intended to couple the payment of the legacy by the devisee with the devise of the land, so that the payment is to be made because, or as a condition on which, the devise has been made, then the payment of the legacy is a condition on which an unincumbered title vests in the devise, and the real estate is in equity, chargeable with the payment of the legacy.</p> <p>Wills — Decedent's estate — Vested legacies — Charge on land.</p> <p>The provisions of a will were: “ I devise unto my son, William Moran, and his heirs my farm on condition .... he pay unto my son, Patrick Moran, the sum of one thousand dollars, without interest, and the same be paid twelve years after my decease.” There is nothing in this language, or in the description, condition or circumstances of the legatee indicating a purpose in the mind of the testator to make the payment contingent upon the survival of the legatee until the time fixed for the payment, and the acceptance by the devisee of the farm so devised was subject to the conditions imposed. The legacy was, therefore, vested and charged upon the land.</p> <p>Legacies — Executors and administrators — Act of February 24, 1854.</p> <p>Under the Act of February 24, 1854, P. L. 70, the administrator of a legatee’s estate has a s