Bridges v. . Pleasants
Supreme Court of North Carolina
This cause, having been set for hearing upon the Bill and answer, was transmitted, by consent of the parties, from the Court of Equity of Orange County, at the Pall Term, 1845, to this Court.
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This cause, having been set for hearing upon the Bill and answer, was transmitted, by consent of the parties, from the Court of Equity of Orange County, at the Pall Term, 1845, to this Court. The following case was presented by the pleadings : Stephen Justice made his will, .and therein bequeathed sundry specific and pecuniary legacies ; and then he directed as follows : “ After my will is complied with, after the above directions, it is my will that $1000, if there be so much remaining, be applied to foreign missions, and to the poor saints : this to be disposed of and applied as my executor…
1Opinion of the CourtRuffin, C. J.
It is always painful to a Judge, to disappoint the intentions he believes to" have been entertained by a testator, though lie has not sufficiently expressed them; and it is so especially, when the testator’s intentions were so praise-worthy as those which, as the defendant says, this testator entertained and which it is extremely probable he did entertain. But it is a perfectly well known principle of law, that a Court cannot go out of a will to construe it. The paper must tell us the testator’s meaning, or we can never find it out; and if he hath not sufficiently disposed of his property, it…
Also in this document: Per curiam.
2Cited by21 opinions
- Keith v. . ScalesSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1899
- King v. RichardsonCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · 1943
- Weaver v. . KirbySupreme Court of North Carolina · 1923
- Cook v. . SinkSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1925
- Thomas Ex Rel. Thomas v. ClaySupreme Court of North Carolina · 1924
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