Moore v. Brooks
Supreme Court of Virginia
Josiah Robertson died in 1810, having made his will, which was duly admitted to probat. By his will he gave to his wife Catharine Robinson, the whole of his estate, for her life or widowhood; she paying his debts.
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Josiah Robertson died in 1810, having made his will, which was duly admitted to probat. By his will he gave to his wife Catharine Robinson, the whole of his estate, for her life or widowhood; she paying his debts. The second clause of the will is as follows: “At the death or intermarriage of my dear wife, it is my will, that my then remaining estate be subject to equal distribution betw’een all my children ; and' it is my express desire, that the parts of my estate which shall go to my two daughters Mary Murphy and Caroline Brooks, shall be held by them during their natural lives, and no…
1Opinion of the Court
AI/EEN, P.
This case brings again before -the court the question, so often discussed here and in England, as to the' operation of the rule in Shelley’s Case, that where an estate of freehold is limited to a person, .and the same instrument contains a limitation, mediate or immediate, to the heirs of his body, or to his heirs, the ancestor takes the whole estate comprised in the terms, ether as a fee tail or a fee simple. In this case there is no limitation over on the failure of issue; and the only question arising on the will is, whether the testator, in reference to the devise or bequest to…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Skagit Railway & Lumber Co. v. ColeWashington Supreme Court · 1891
- Griffith v. ThomsonSupreme Court of Virginia · 1829
- Warners v. MasonSupreme Court of Virginia · 1816