Stewart's Estate

Citations

• 253 Pa. 277
• 98 A. 569
• 1916 Pa. LEXIS 823

Syllabus

<p>Wills — Trusts—Agreements of beneficiaries to cancel will — Validity.</p> <p>1. The right of all the parties in interest under a will to set aside or disregard the will does not extend to the case of an active trust for a definite term, created by a testator for the protection of his beneficiaries, and this is particularly true where there are contingent remainders limited to the issue of legatees who may die during the pendency of a life estate.</p> <p>2. Where a testator bequeathed the residue of his estate in trust for the benefit of his wife for her life and upon her death to pay the income to his children in equal shares, and to the issue of any deceased child per stirpes, and directed that upon the death of the last surviving child, the principal 'of the estate should vest under the provisions of the intestate laws, the widow and children, although all parties in being interested in the estate, could not prevent the execution of the testator’s purposes, by agreeing to cancel and destroy the will, and a petition by the widow and children to enjoin the executor from proceeding with the probate of the will was properly refused.</p>