In re the Estate of Hartwell

Citations

• 23 Haw. 213
• 1916 Haw. LEXIS 25

Syllabus

<p>Words and Phrases — “children.”</p> <p>The general construction of the word “children” accords with its popular signification, namely, as designating the immediate offspring.</p> <p>Wills — devise to children as a class.</p> <p>A testator by his will gave his residuary estate “in equal shares to all my children who shall be living at my decease.” Held, that the term “children” must be construed in its proper sense as designating the immediate offspring, and this construction is unaffected by the fact that at the time of the making of the will, and at his death, there was living a grandchild of the testator’s, the son of a deceased daughter, who but for the will would have been entitled as an heir at law to share in the estate of his grandfather.</p>