Newlin v. Mercantile Trust Co.

⁶²⁵ Offutt, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. These seven appeals from an order of the Orphans’ Court •of Baltimore City, distributing the residuary estate of William IT. IToyt, late of that eity, deceased, present varying •contentions of the next of kin of the decedent and possible distributees of his estate as to the true meaning of certain •clauses in a codicil to his will. s The facts forming the background of those contentions are these: William H. Hoyt, who for many years prior to his •death lived with his wife, Kate Hoyt, in the City of Baltimore, left to survive him no kin nearer than nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews. At the time of his death, he had in possession an estate valued at something over $47,000, and a vested remainder in the residuary estate of his brother Louis Thurston Lloyt of New York, who had died in 1901 leaving a large fortune, which he disposed of by last will and testament duly admitted to probate in the 'Surrogate’s Court of the County of New York.

Under that will the residuary estate of the testator was left in trust for his wndow for her life and at her death for his daughter Aline, and at her death to certain designated legatees, among whom was his brother William H. Hoyt, who was to receive one-fourth of three-eighths thereof. William IT. Hoyt, for some reason not fully disclosed by the record, apparently failed to realize the value or the extent of his interest in his brother’s residuary estate at the time he executed his will on September 9th, 1913, for in it he made no mention of that legacy, but on November 3rd, 1915, he executed a codicil to his will in which he d.id dispose of it. At his death, which occurred on January 2nd, 1917, he left to survive him as his next of kin and possible distributees of his estate the persons whose names, together with their relationship to the testator, the share of his residuary estate allotted to each of them recognized in the- order from which these appeals were taken as a proper distributee, the date of the death of such of them as died prior to March 16th, 1930, and the names of their personal representatives, appear in the following table: ^{626 627} So much of the testator’s estate as was in his possession at the time of his death was, by an order of the Orphans’ Court of Baltimore City, distributed in accordance with the provisions of his will on December 5th, 1928, and, while the pro*priety of that order is not in issue in this case, since the will and the codicil are complementary, and as the provisions of the will reflect some light upon the meaning which the testator intended to convey by the language employed by him in the codicil, in construing the codicil it is also necessary to examine the will.

By that will, dated September 9th, 1913, the testator made the following disposition of the property which he owned and possessed at the time of his death: To each of the following persons described as his “own nieces and nephews” he bequeathed $34-2, Adele De Wint Van Voorhis, Garrett Sprarert De Wint, Francis Adams De Wint, Grace De Lancey Verplanck Newlin, Mabel Thurston Whittemore, Louis Hoyt Whittemore; to his wife, Kate Hoyt, he bequeathed $12,500; and to John and Aime Hanold he bequeathed seventy, dollars each. After those specific legacies, he bequeathed the entire income of the residue of his estate to his wife, Kate Hoyt, for her life, and at her death from the remainder he bequeathed to Aline Woodfield, his niece, $350; to Francis Adams De Wint, his nephew, and Marjorie Couenhoren De Wint and Katherine Bolden De Wint, his grandnieces, each $600; $150 each to John and Aime Hanold: and to “each one of my own nieces and nephews in addition to tire other provisions in their favor in the foregoing will as follows, to Adele De Wint Van Voorhis, to Garrett Sprarert De Wint, to Mabel Thurston Whittemore, to Louis Hoyt Whittemore, to Grace De Lancey Verplanck Newlin, to Francis Adams De Wint the sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000),” and $200 each to a number of religious, fraternal, and charitable institutions, and he further bequeathed to his wife absolutely his furniture, wearing apparel, and jewelry. Ho then provided: “If after the death of my aforesaid wife there shall be any surplus of real or personal property remaining after paying all the aforesaid legacies. I direct that all such surplus ⁶²⁸ shall be equally divided per stirpes among my next of kin then living.” He named his wife executor of the will, and, upon her refusal to act, the Mercantile Trust Company.

Mrs. Hoyt refused to act as executor, and letters were accordingly issued to the Mercantile Trust Company of Baltimore City. In the codicil, executed November 3rd, 1915, over two years later, in disposing of his interest in the estate of his brother, he bequeathed to his wife, Kate Hoyt, $31,000 absolutely, “in addition to1 the other provisions in her favor in the aforegqing will,” out of so much of that estate as might come to' him or to his estate and from the same source to his “own nieces and nephews” Grace De Lancey Verplanck Newlin, Mabel' Thurston Whittemore, Louis Hoyt Whittemore, Adele De Wint Van Voorhis, Garrett Sprarert De Wint each $7,000, to Francis Adams De Wint $3,200, to his “own grand nieces and nephews” Marjorie Cbuenhoven De Wint, Katherine Belden De Wint, and Grace De Lancey Newlin, each $3,000; to Alice B. Thurston, William'S. Thurston, and John R. Thurston, $2,000 each; to John, William, George, Annie, and Myrtle Hanold, $500 each; to different friends and institutions, legacies ranging from $150 to $600 each. He further provided that these legacies should be payable “immediately after the death” of his wife, and that none should be payable before his share of the estate of his brother became payable to him or to his estate. He then provided in the thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth clauses of his will as follows: “Thirteenth: I direct that all the surplus proceeding from this will and codicil shall be equally divided between my wife, the aforesaid Kate Hoyt, and my next of kin such as my nieces and my nephews as well as my own grand-nieces then living.' “Fourteenth: I will that all the legacies in this codicil shall be payable out of my share in the residuary estate of my brother, the late Louis Thurston Hoyt of New York that may come to me or to my estate, should my share in the residue of my brother’s ⁶²⁹ estate remaining after deducting the thirty-four thousand dollars ($34,000) herein specifically bequeathed to my wife, Kate Hoyt, be insufficient to pay the foregoing legacies in full they shall all be proportionately abated. “Fifteenth: None of the legacies given in this codicil shall be payable before my said share in remainder rests in possession and none of the legacies in this codicil shall bear interest. “Seventeenth: After paying all the legacies and bequests given in this will and codicil there shall be any surplus of real or personal property remaining I will that such surplus shall be equally divided per stirpes between my wife Kate Hoyt and my next of tin then living, as nieces and nephews. “Eighteenth: Should any beneficiary named in this will passing prior to the probating of’ this my Last Will and Testament then my bequests to the one or one having died shall pass to my wife Kate Hoyt.” Louis T. Hoyt died August 2nd, 1901, William H. Hoyt died January 2nd, 1917, Kate Hoyt died November 29th, 1927, and Frances M. Hoyt, the widow of Louis, and surviving life tenant under his will, died March 16th, 1930, and on December 6th, 1930, $305,084.14, the legacy payable to the estate of William H. Hoyt under the will of Louis T. Hoyt, his brother, was paid to his executor, the Mercantile Trust.

Company. On March 10th, 1931, the executor filed in the Orphans’ Court of Baltimore a petition in which, after reciting in substance the facts set forth above, it stated that it held for distribution to the wife and next of kin of the testator, and to. the other legatees named in the codicil, $297,720.77, and prayed that an order might bo passed fixing a day for a meeting of all persons entitled to participate in the distribution of the said estate, and that such distribution might then be made under the court’s direction and control. Upon the petition a day was fixed, the parties notified, testimony was taken, a hearing was had, and thereafter, on ⁶³⁰ July 16th, 1931, the court passed an order in which, after directing the executor to pay the specific legacies as provided in the codicil, except the legacy to Concordia Lodge of Masons, which was to be retained for further proceedings, it was directed that “the residue of said estate and property remaining in the hands of said executor after paying the legacies aforesaid and the expenses of this proceeding and any other proper allowances of the executor shall be by said executor, distributed "and divided to and among the following named persons in the following proportions, the court finding that Kate Lloyt is entitled to a per capita share of the rest and residue of said estate with the nieces and nephews living at the time of the death of Frances M. Hoyt, the widow of Louis Thurston Hoyt of New York; and that the children of Francis Adams De Wint, a deceased nephew, viz.: Marjorie O. De Wint and Katherine B. Werner, take his share by representation, and are therefore entitled to receive the same: “Name of Distributee Relationship Share Kate Hoyt............... Widow 1/6 Adele de Wint Van Voorhis..

Niece 1/6 Louis Hoyt Whittemore.... Nephew 1/6 Garrett Sprevert de Windt.. Nephew 1/6 Grace W. Newlin........... Niece 1/6 Marjorie O. de Wint.......

Grand niece 1/12 Katherine Belden Werner.. Grand-niece 1/12” That scheme of distribution was apparently based upon a determination by the orphans’ court- (1). that the legacy to the testator’s widow under the residuary clauses of his will vested at his death; (2) that his next of kin under the language of those clauses formed a class in which the widow was not included; (3) that the legacy to that class vested at the death of the widow of Louis Thurston Hoyt; (1) that the widow of the testator “took per capita with the nephews and nieces, and that the children of the deceased nephew take his share by representation,” the number of the capita or heads being fixed by the number of the members of the class at the time when their interests vested, and adding to that group Kate Lloyt, the widow of the testator. ⁶³¹ The effect of that order was to exclude from any participation in the estate the executor of the estate of Mabel Thurston Whittemore Roth, a niece who had died in 1929, John William Woodfield, executor of Aline Woodfield, a niece, who had died -without issue surviving in 1923, the Girard Trust Company of Philadelphia, executor of Grace De Lancey Newlin, a grandniece "who died in September, 1930, leaving no surviving children, and Laura E. Boureau, administratrix c. t. a. of the estate of Francis A. De Wint, a nephew who died in 1926. Appeals from that order were taken by Grace Whittemore Newlin and the Girard Trust Company of Philadelphia, executor of Grace De Lancey Newlin, appellants in Nos. 68 and 69 of the October term of this court, who contend (1) that the nieces, nephews, and the widow of the testator together formed a single class in which children of a deceased niece or nephew took by representation, (2) that the legacy to that class vested at the date of the death of Frances M. Hoyt, or March 16th, 1930, (3) that as the widow was not living at that time her estate takes nothing, and (1) that the grandnieces and grandnephews of the testator who “survived the vesting period” take per capita with the other beneficiaries; by Laura E. Boureau, administratrix of F'rancis A. De Wint, appellant in No. 70 on that docket, who contends (1) that the residue vested at the time of the testator’s death, or at the time of the probate of his will, (2) in a class of persons named in the 13th clause of the codicil wlu> were living at the time his will -was probated, (3) per capita; by the Mercantile Trust ’Company of Baltimore, appellant in No. 71 on the same docket, which contends (1) that the gift under the residuary clauses to the widow was “vested and not contingent until” the New York estate fell in, and (2) that the widow’s share wras one-half of the residue; by Adele De Wint Van Yoorhis, appellant in No. 72 on the same docket, who contends (1) that the residue vested on March 16th, 1930, (2) in the next of kin of the testator then living, including in that description, by representation, the two daughters of Francis A. De Wint, a deceased nephew: by Katherine B. ⁶³² Werner and Marjorie C. De Wint, the appellants in No. 73 on the same docket, who contend (1) that only the next of kin of the testator living on March 16th, 1930, were entitled to participate in the distribution of the residue of his estate, (2) that they took per stirpes and not per capita, and (3) that the bequest to Kate Hoyt was contingent upon her surviving the vesting period, and that, since she died prior to that time, her estate takes nothing; by Adoph F. Roth, executor of Mabel Thurston Whittemore Roth, appellant in No. 71 on the same docket, who contends (1) that all legacies under the will vested immediately upon the death of the testator, (2) that his residuary estate vested in his widow and next of kin equally, and (3) that children of a deceased niece or nephew took only if the parent died before the legacies vested, and then only the share the parent would have taken. From these varying contentions, two questions emerge as the controlling inquiries in the case: (1) The time at which the interests of the beneficiaries under the residuary clauses of the codicil to the will of William H. Hoyt vested; and (2) whether under those clauses the legacy to Kate Hoyt was to her separately or as a member of a class.

In approaching these questions, the primary and controlling consideration is to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the testator. Mr. Miller has with his usual precision and clarity stated that cardinal principle of testamentary construction in the following language, which occurs in his work on The Construction of Wills, sec. 9, where it is said: “The object of the court in cases involving the. construction of wills is, first to ascertain the intention of the testator; and then, secondly, to give-effect to that intention so far as is consistent with the rules and the policy of the law. This principle has been expressed in a great number of cases in the Maryland reports, with varying phraseology,” and has supported the text by citations to a number of decisions of this court which are collected in notes 1 and 2 to that paragraph. In applying that rule, there are certain ancillary canons-to be observed which are as definite and as well settled as the rule itself.

The first is that the testator is presumed to have ⁶³³ meant and intended what he actually said, for, after all, the will is his will, and, if in it he expressed his intention in clear and unambiguous language, it would be manifestly inexcusable and unjust to him and to the beneficiaries under the will to look further for his meaning, or to attribute to him an intention which, while it would more nearly approximate what others might consider natural justice, would nevertheless be contrary to the plain meaning of what he actually did say. Id., sec. 10. Second, in determining the meaning of the language of a particular clause, the whole context of - the will must be examined, in order that as far as possible force and effect may be given to every part of it, to the end that all of its directions may be harmonized. Id., sec. 11, note 1.

Third, wdiere some doubt or uncertainty inheres in the language of some clause or clauses of the will, to solve that doubt it is not only permissible to examine the entire will, but also to consider the circumstances surrounding its execution, such as the nature and character of the estate, the situation of the testator at the time, and the relations then existing between him and the objects of his bounty, or, in other words, to assume the position of the testator, and in reference to that particular object to occupy his “armchair.” Miller, Construc. Wills, sec. 12. Fourth, in interpreting the language of the will, ordinary words in general use will be given their ordinary and accustomed meaning, except where it is clear from the context that they were given a different meaning by the testator, and words of art are to be given their technical meaning, unless it is apparent that the testator understood and used them in a different sense. Id., sec. 21.

And fifth, running through all of these rules and controlling their application, is the principle that the function and the duty of the court is to construe the will which the testator executed, and not to make one for him. Reverting, with those principles in mind, to the first of the questions stated above, it is apparent from an examination of the photostatic copy of the papers, filed in this court, that the codicil as well as the will was a holograph, and the codicil affords intrinsic evidence of the fact that the drafts ⁶³⁴ man was not- familiar with the technical legal significance of the phraseology usually employed in testamentary composition, and that what he set out- to do was to tell in his own way, undisturbed by legal advice, what he wanted to do with his estate. In doing that, however, he seems to have been unconscious of the fact that, while the meaning of what he said may have been perfectly clear to him, it should be so expressed that it would be equally clear to others who might read it at a time when he would not be present to- explain what he 'meant. An examination of the two> instruments, the will and the codicil, leaves little doubt that his controlling purpose and intent was (1) to provide for his wife, in so far as his resources permitted, in such a manner as to insure her comfort and to protect her against want during her life, and (2) leave the major part of his fortune to his blood relatives at her death.

So that, when we come to construe the two residuary clauses, we must assume the position of the testator, who undertook to dispose of an estate which he knew was valuable, but how valuable he did not know, and which in the ordinary course of nature might not vest in possession until long after his death and the death of his wife, in such a manner as would best insure her comfort and ease during her life, and at the same time make it certain that at her death the greater part of it would go to his own blood relatives. At the time he executed the will, it does not appear that his actual estate in possession, to which alone he could look with any certainty for the support of his wife after his death, was worth more than it was when he died, about $47,000. Yet out of that estate, while .he left his wife $12,500 absolutely, he also left cash legacies of $342 each to six of his nieces and nephews living at that time, and at her death to his nephews and nieces and grandnephews and grandnieces legacies aggregating $8,150, and the entire residue of his estate to- his next of kin “then living”. When -he came two years later to write the codicil, he knew that it was possible, but hardly probable, that his ⁶³⁵ share in his brother’s estate would vest in possession prior to his death, for at that time both his sister-in-law, Frances M. Hovt and her daughter, Aline Woodfield, who was of the generation after his, were both living.

But he knew, too, that eventually it would fall into, his estate, and that it might become payable during his own life, or, if his wife survived him, during her life. If it fell in during his life, he could of course deal with it, but what he especially wanted to- do- in the codicil was to- dispose of it in the event that it was paid after his death, but during the life of his wife, and in that event he wanted so much of it as was in his judgment sufficient for the purpose to1 go to his wife that she might have the benefit of it for her support and convenience. He therefore gave to his wife $34,000 absolutely and the income1 from the entire residue for life. At her death out of the residue he gave to Grace De Lancey Verplanck Newlin, Mabel Thurston Whittemore, Louis H. Whittemore, Adele De Wint Van Voorhis, and Garrett Sprarert De