Smith v. Palmer
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
Appeal from Surrogate’s Court, Schuyler County. In the matter of the judicial settlement of the acounts of J. Monroe Palmer, as .executor, etc., of Elizabeth Farrington, deceased, as executrix and trustee under the will of John E. Chase, deceased. John S. Smith, as executor of Obadiah Chase, appeals from the decree. In 1870 John E. Chase, of Schuyler county, died, leaving a last will and testament which reads as follows: “Will.
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Appeal from Surrogate’s Court, Schuyler County. In the matter of the judicial settlement of the acounts of J. Monroe Palmer, as .executor, etc., of Elizabeth Farrington, deceased, as executrix and trustee under the will of John E. Chase, deceased. John S. Smith, as executor of Obadiah Chase, appeals from the decree. In 1870 John E. Chase, of Schuyler county, died, leaving a last will and testament which reads as follows: “Will. “In the name of God, amen: I, John E. Chase, of the town of Hector, in the county of Schuyler, and state of New York, at the age of thirty-five years, and being of…
1DissentHoughton, J.
I cannot agree to the conclusion reached by the majority of the court. To my mind the will herein must be construed as providing that the testator’s .wife should take a life estate in his real and personal property, with the right, in case the income should be insufficient for her support to use and dispose of so much of the corpus of the estate as might be necessary for that purpose. She had sole custody of the funds, and under this construction it follows that, if any portion of the estate had not been so used by her, then she, or her estate, was liable to account therefor, and the decree…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Trask v. . SturgesNew York Court of Appeals · 1902
- Kendall v. CaseNew York Supreme Court · 1895
- Commonwealth v. MackMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1905