Ruston's Executors v. Ruston
Supreme Court of the United States
IN this action a verdict had been taken for the Plaintiffs, for £2096 13s4, subject to the opinion of the Court, on a point reserved, to be argued upon a motion for a new trial. The case was this :—Job Ruston made his last Will and Testament, dated the 17th of January 1784, and thereby first, " after his just and lawful debts and funeral charges paid, he bequeathed £500. and some specific goods and chattels, to his wife.
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IN this action a verdict had been taken for the Plaintiffs, for £2096 13s4, subject to the opinion of the Court, on a point reserved, to be argued upon a motion for a new trial. The case was this :—Job Ruston made his last Will and Testament, dated the 17th of January 1784, and thereby first, " after his just and lawful debts and funeral charges paid, he bequeathed £500. and some specific goods and chattels, to his wife. He next devised all his real estate to his eldest son Thomas in fee, provided he payed to his executors £3000, by annual installments, during seven years and a half; and…
1Opinion of the Court
On the 2d of April 1786, the Chief Justice delivered the following opinion:
M‘Kean, Chief Justice.
In the case of an intestacy, the rule of law is clear, that simple contract debts, bonds, mortgages, and specialties of every sort, must be paid by the administrators out of the personal estate, this being the natural fund for debts, tho’ the younger children should be thereby left destitute: But where there is a will, the testator can substitute other funds in the place of the personal estate; What has Job Ruston willed in this particular, is the question.
The intention of the testator shall…
2Cited by11 opinions
- Lobach's CaseSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1837
- Reeder v. AntrimIndiana Court of Appeals · 1915
- Weller v. WellerCourt of Appeals of Texas · 1899
- Hoover v. HooverSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1847
- Estate of Fussell v. FortneyWest Virginia Supreme Court · 2012
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