In Re Grondin Estate

The principal question in this case is whether the word “taxes” in the preamble of the will indicates a testamentary intention that the legacy and succession tax (R. L., c. 87) shall be paid by the estate out of the residuary clause or whether each legatee and the devisee shall pay his proportionate share of the tax. Before deciding the principal question two preliminary matters present themselves.

Since both the executor and the probate court were in doubt as to the incidence of the state inheritance tax on the legacies and devise in the will, it was impossible to make an accurate…