Bassett v. Granger
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Contract on this clause in Nancy Horton’s will: “ I give and bequeath all my personal property of every name and nature, after paying the foregoing legacies, to the heirs of my late husband and to my heirs equally.”
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Contract on this clause in Nancy Horton’s will: “ I give and bequeath all my personal property of every name and nature, after paying the foregoing legacies, to the heirs of my late husband and to my heirs equally.” At the trial in the superior court, before Morton, J., it appeared that Nancy Horton’s heirs, at her decease, were: Sarah Horton, a sister; six children of a deceased brother, Nathaniel Bassettof whom the plaintiff was one; the only child of a deceased brother, Christopher Bassett; and the only child of a deceased sister, Sally Stover. It also appeared that the heirs of James…
1Opinion of the CourtGray, J.
The residuary bequest of Nancy Horton “ to the heirs of my late husband and to my heirs equally,” upon its manifest intention, and according to the authorities, was a bequest in equal shares to two classes, which might, and, as to that class to which the plaintiff belonged, in fact did, include persons in different degrees of descent, and by which therefore the plaintiff, and the class of which he was one, took per stirpes and not per capita. Holbrook v. Harrington, 16 Gray, 102. Balcom v. Haynes, 14 Allen, 205, and other cases there cited. As the plaintiff has already received his share…
2Cited by27 opinions
- Woodward v. . JamesNew York Court of Appeals · 1889
- Crapo v. PriceMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1906
- Bisson v. . W.S.R.R. Co.New York Court of Appeals · 1894
- Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Co. v. ParkMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1940
- Maclean v. WilliamsSupreme Court of Georgia · 1902
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