Matthews v. Targarona

Boyd, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The principal questions in this case for our consideration are first: Have the legacies of the appellants, left them by the last will and testament of Peter Targarona, priority over those ⁴⁴⁴ given to his three children ? 2nd. Is the widow of said testator entitled to her thirds out of the personalty, before any of the legacies are paid ? x. The testator left five legacies, each for the sum of two thousand dollars—they being to his son Peter, Mrs. McCann, Mr. Matthews, and two to the Safe Deposit and Trust Company of Baltimore City, in trust for his son Marshall, and his daughter Vivian, respectively.

That company was named as executor, but renounced and Messrs. Tyson and Field were appointed administrators with the will annexed. The will recites that the testator’s estate consists of a claim against the United States Government for twenty thousand dollars, and that his attorney was to receive one-half of the amount recovered. After his death, ten thousand dollars was collected by the attorney and one-half thereof paid over to the estate.

After payment of funeral expenses, commissions, costs, etc., there only remains about four thousand dollars for distribution, and inasmuch as the five legacies amount to ten thousand dollars, the questions above stated have arisen. The Court below passed a decree holding that the widow was entitled to one-third of the estate, after payment of the debts and funeral expenses, less $150 already paid her by the administrators, and that Mr. Matthews and Mrs. McCann were not entitled to priorities over the other legatees, but that all the legacies abated proportionately. From that decree Mr. Matthews and Mrs. McCann took this appeal. The legacy to Mrs. McCann is stated in the will to be “in consideration of her personal services and attention rendered me, during my sickness, and also for money loaned me by her, to pay for the support and maintenance of my two children, Marshall P. Targarona 'and Vivian M. Targarona, and also' moneys loaned me to pay the rents of the houses my children have resided in with their mother during my sickness,” and that to Mr. Matthews is said to be “in consideration of money loaned me during my sickness to support my wife and two children and other assistance rendered me.” The theory of the appellants is that their legacies were for ⁴⁴⁵ valuable considerations, and hence have priority over the other three, inasmuch as the latter were mere bounties.

In 2 Williams on Executors (7 Am. Ed.) 669, after stating the rule that legacies in their nature general abate pro rata, in case of deficiency of assets, and that there is no preference among them, the author thus speaks of a well-recognized exception to the general rule: “But this must be understood only as among legatees, who are all volunteers; for if there be any valuable consideration for the testamentary gift, as where a general legacy is given in consideration of a debt owing to the legatee, or of the relinquishment of any right or interest, as of her dower by a widow, such legacy will be entitled to a preference of payment over the other general legacies, which are mere bounties; and it should seem that the preference will be allowed, though the bequest should exceed the value of the right or interest relinquished by the legatee. But it is requisite that the right or interest should be subsisting at the testator’s death.” In 2 Woerner on Administration, sec. 452, the same principle is announced and discussed, as it is in 1 Am. and Eng. Ency. of Law, 48; 3 Pomeroy’s Eq.

Juris., sec. 1142, and in Buchanan v. Pue, 6 Gill, 112 , the Court quoted with approval from 1 Roper on Legacies, 297, stating the same doctrine as to a general legacy given in consideration of a debt. In Durham v. Rhodes, 23 Md. 242 , our predecessors used this language: “A general legacy to a widow, in lieu of dower, accepted by her, stands upon a different footing from other general legacies merely voluntary. It will be entitled in payment of it to a preference over such general legacies, even when the amount of the bequest exceeds the value of her dower; for in this matter the testator is the only and best judge of the price at which he purchased it.” The Court there speaks of such a widow as “a favored purchaser for a fair consideration.” Authorities are too numerous to admit of any question about the general doctrine stated above, and the only difficulty which is likely to arise is in its application to the particular case before the Court. It must be admitted that a legacy to a widow in lieu of ⁴⁴⁶ dower is placed in the same general class, as one to a creditor in payment of a debt, in the statement of the principle by the authorities.

But there ought to be, and is, some difference between them—such as justifies the Court in being more liberal in the application of the rule in favor of a widow than in the case of an ordinary creditor. There may be circumstances where it is of the utmost importance to have property freed from a widow’s dower, and where it may be supposed to be to the interest of the widow to assert her right to it. The value of it cannot, therefore, always be accurately determined, and it may be thought proper by a testator to pay more for it than it is really worth. If she was not given preference, she might lose m.uch of it in some cases, for the statutes of many States require her to renounce a will within a specified time, if she desires to stand on her rights given her by law.

In Addison v. Addison, 44 Md. 182 , the legacy to Mrs. Addison was “in lieu of her dower” in the lands “and all her rights as widow.” If preference had not been allowed her by the Court, she would have been a large loser. But in the case of a creditor he may elect to proceed, as such, against the estate, and can do that at any time within the statutory period of limitations—provided the estate is not fully settled, which it cannot well be without his knowledge. This case well illustrates the danger of the rule of priority in favor of legatees who are creditors, if precisely the same effect must be given to thgir legacies as would be to a widow in lieu of her dower or thirds. Portions of the claims of both appellants are of very doubtful character, while it is shown by the evidence that something is due to each of them.

Although the testator told some persons that $2,000 would not pay the appellants for what he owed them, he may have, and properly did include, in such estimate, services rendered him which would be regarded in law as gratuitous. In Buchanan v. Pue, supra, the bequest was stated to be “In consideration of the particular care and attention shown me by my sister, Priscilla Buchanan, during my protracted sickness, etc., and the rule we are considering was sought to be applied, giving the legatee priority. The ⁴⁴⁷ Court held that although the services were in the highest degree meritorious they were gratuitous and there was no legal claim. Some of the services rendered by each of the appellants were apparently gratuitous and some of the charges made in their accounts stated in the bill of complaint are exorbitant and grossly excessive.

For example, Mrs. McCann charged for boarding and taking care of him for the last nineteen months of his life, $50 per month, yet the evidence shows, beyond all question, that in the latter part of his life there were signs of great poverty around him, and he was the recipient of help from a charitable organization. One of the officers of that society said: “There was nothing but poverty there;” “they did not have any food;” “they did not have anything to eat;” “I gave her (Mrs. McCann) two dollars out of my pocket because it was a pitiable case, and she said he did not have a loaf of bread in the house for the next day;” and used other similar expressions in his testimony. Another member of that society said “he seemed in abject poverty,” and coal and groceries were furnished by this society. This was during the period for which she has charged $50 per month, and during those nineteen months and the eight previous months, for which she charged $30 per month, she claims to have loaned him $705—an average of $26 per month.

Such claims could not receive the approval of any intelligent jury, under such circumstances as we have stated. The first item in Mr. Matthews’ account, as stated in the bill was “Said Targarona collected and retained during all said seven years, rents of houses belonging to said Matthews amounting to $15 per month, $1,260.” Another item is for twenty-seven months’ rent at $ 12 per month for the house he and Mrs. McCann lived in, amounting to $324.00—covering the same period for which she was making the extravagant charges stated above. It will be observed that the testator said that the bequest was “in consideration of money loaned me during my sickness to support my wife and two children and other assistance rendered me.” The account of Mr. Matthews ⁴⁴⁸ amounts to $1,994, without interest, and there is not a single item in it which corresponds with the statement in the will, unless it be brought under the expression “other assistance rendered me,” or it be assumed that the $15 per month, re-’ tained for seven years, was paid to the wife and two children of the testator which, to say the least, is not satisfactorily proven. The record shows that he collected rent for other people and transacted more or less business during a good part of the seven years.

It would be very difficult to reconcile the statement in the will with the account in the bill, by the testimony in this record. The testator died April 23rd, 1903, and Mrs. McCann only met him in the summer of 1900, and although she only knew him for about three years, according to her claim, she boarded him and took care of him for thirty-four months without receiving any pay—notwithstanding she was poor herself, was largely dependent upon the wages of her two minor children and during the last twenty-seven months loaned him $705. According to the accounts of the two, he was getting his board and attention without paying anything for them in cash and an average of $26.00 per month from Mrs. McCann and $15 per month from Mr. Matthews, besides what he was making in his business, and yet was • in abject poverty and asked for assitance from a charitable organization. Such claims lack signs of fair dealing and are too doubtful and uncertain to justify any tribunal in allowing all of the items, if suits were brought for their recovery.

Notwithstanding this, must these legacies be allowed priority over the others ? It is true that the testator had a right to leave his money as he saw fit, and he has fixed the amount to be paid to each of the appellants at $2,000, but it is equally true that in order to entitle a legatee to priority over the others, as a creditor, there must be a subsisting, valid debt at the death of the testator. We do not mean to say that a debt barred by the Statute of Limitations could not support a legacy, for in that case there would still be the obligation, although it could not be enforced by reason of the statute, and moreover the testator could revive it by a new promise; but a ⁴⁴⁹ legacy given by reason of a sense of moral obligation or as compensation for services, or other favors rendered gratuituously, when there is no legal obligation to pay, does not constitute such a valuable consideration as to entitle the legacy to priority in payment. Duncan v. Franklin, 43 N. J. Eq. 145; Buchanan v. Pue, supra.

For some such instances in which legacies purporting to be for considerations have been held not to be entitled to preferences, see 1 Ency. of Law, 50, etc. When a Court is satisfied that the consideration for a legacy has not been established, as a subsisting, valid debt, for anything like the amount of the legacy, there can be no reason or principle of law particularly in a Court of equity, requiring the Court to give it a priority over other legacies. It would be permitting a legacy founded on a false basis, or at least not shown to be on a true one, to deprive other legatees of what in justice and good conscience they are entitled to. It would be a