Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church v. Todd

Urner, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The will and two codicils to be construed in this case were executed by Emilia Mather, of Baltimore, who died on August 6th, 1918. The date of the will was June 19th, 1913, and the codicils were signed, respectively, on December 5th, 1914, and June 8th, 1918. An estate worth approximately $45,000 was available for distribution under the terms of . those instruments.

The first disposing clause in the will is as follows: “I give, devise and bequeath unto the Fidelity Trust Company, a body corporate, of the State of Maryland, a sufficient portion of my Estate, the same to be selected and set aside by my executors hereinafter ⁵⁴³ named, to yield an annual net income of Four Hundred and Eighty dollars, in trust, to pay the said income in equal monthly installments to my brother, James Francis Mather, for and during his lifetime, and after his death the trust shall cease and the same shall fall into and become a part of the residue of my estate, to be disposed of as the said residue is hereinafter disposed of.” This clause was followed in the will by pecuniary bequests aggregating $29,000. The residuary clause was in the following form: “All the rest and residue of my Estate of every kind and description, wheresoever situate, I give, devise and bequeath unto Dr. Walter S. Haven, of Racine, Wisconsin, in trust, for the use and benefit of the College in Beloit, Wisconsin, generally known as the Beloit College, from which said Dr. Haven was graduated.” The first codicil made additional pecuniary bequests amounting to $9,500. It contained the following provision: a “Should the value of my estate prove insufficient to pay all the legacies provided for in my will and this Codicil in full, I direct that the legacies for the use of my brother, the one to my cousin, John Mather, the one to my cousins Minnie Fontayne and Charles II. Fontavne, and the one to my friend, Martha Virginia Steelman and Anna M. Stringer, shall be first paid in full by my executors and all the other legacies, except the one regarding the disposition of my household effects, shall be pro rated among the various legacies hereunder.” The second codicil revoked a bequest of $1,000 in the will, and also provided as follows: “First: I hereby change the provision in Item First of my said Will for the benefit of my brother, James Francis Mather, by changing the words in said Item to yield an annual net income of Four Hundred and Eighty dollars (480), to read ‘to yield an annual net income of Six Hundred Dollars ($600),’ it being my ⁵⁴⁴ intention and desire that my said brother shall receive from the Trust Estate created by me for his benefit the sum of Eifty dollars ($50) a month during his lifetime.” “Third: I revoke and annul Item Thirteenth of my said Will, wherein I devised and bequeathed the rest and residue of my estate unto Dr„ Walter S. Haven of Racine, Wisconsin, in trust for the use and benefit of the college at Beloit, Wisconsin, generally known as the Beloit College; and in place thereof I do hereby give, devise and bequeath all the rest and residue of my estate of every kind and description, and wheresoever situate, unto The Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Maryland for the use of the Trustee of the Hannah More Academy for the establishment of a ‘Mather Memorial’ in the Hannah More Academy of such nature as Miss Anna L. Lawrence, the present principal, may elect and determine; provided, however, that should I survive the said Miss Anna 3L Lawrence or should she sever her connection with said Hannah More Academy before my death, then and in that event the aforesaid ‘Mather Memorial’ shall be of such nature as the Trustees of Hannah More Academy shall elect and determine.” The provision in the first codicil that certain legacies should be “pro rated” if the estate should not be sufficient to pay all the legacies in full was repeated in identical terms by the second codicil.

The portion of the estate segregated by the executors and transferred to' the trustee under the will, to produce the specified income for the brother of the testatrix, amounted to $10,-50'6.t0, and the other legacies directed to be paid in full totaled $7,000. After provision was made for those legacies, the remaining estate was not sufficient to pay in full the other pecuniary legacies, which amounted to $30,500, and being accordingly prorated, as the codicils provided, they were paid to- the extent of eighty-six and nin&tenths per cent, of their respective amounts. ⁵⁴⁵ The trust created for the benefit of James Francis Mather, brother of the testatrix, was terminated by his death on November 9th, 1930, and the question now