Gardner v. Mercantile Trust Co.

Adkins, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. This appeal is from an order of the Orphans’ Court of Baltimore City dismissing exceptions to the third administration account filed by the executor of the estate of William B. Oliver, deceased. This account was a distribution of a sum retained for payment of taxes and further accounting. In the two previous accounts, distributions were made to the widow which included her part of the accumulated income as well as the original corpus.

The widow had renounced the provision made for her by her husband’s will, and elected to take her legal share of her said husband’s estate. He left no issue. In filing the said third account, in which one-half of the balance for distribution was distributed to the widow, the executor attached a notation in which he stated that the previous accounts included income as well as principal; that “It has been suggested that under the recent opinion of Judge Prank in the Van Lear Black case the widow is not entitled to any part of the income of the estate pending settlement received during the first year after the testator’s death. In this account, however, no readjustment has been made of the one-half of the net income from said estate which was heretofore distributed to her as aforesaid, and she is also allowed one-half of such part of the income collected from the un ²⁸² divided estate as was received during suck first year.

If suck readjustment were made, tken tke sum of $7,675.65 would be deducted from or ckarged against the items hereby distributed to Mrs. Hellmann and added to tke securities- and cask distributed in tke Divided Estate to tke legatees under tke will.” To said account, as filed, tke appellants filed exceptions wkick were dismissed. This appeal is from tkat order. We find no error. Tke contrary view was tke result of a misconstruction of a statement in tke opinion in Lewis v. Lewis, 138 Md. 70 , 113 A. 573 , relative to tke contention of counsel for appellant in tkat case tkat it would be unfair not to allow tke widow, who accepted tke provision made for ker by ker husband in kis will, interest on tke bequest from the date of kis deatk, wken, if ske kad renounced tke will and elected to take ker dower and tkirds, ske would kave gotten tke income from a third of tke property from tke date of kis deatk.

A more elaborate argument in tke opinion would kave made it plain tkat wkat we meant by tke misunderstood statement was