Leonard v. Leonard
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
This was an appeal from a decree of the judge of probate for this county, refusing to accept the return of certain commissioners appointed by him to assign and set off to the appellant her dower in the estate of her late husband, Samuel Leonard, Esquire, the respondents being the heirs at law of the said deceased.
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This was an appeal from a decree of the judge of probate for this county, refusing to accept the return of certain commissioners appointed by him to assign and set off to the appellant her dower in the estate of her late husband, Samuel Leonard, Esquire, the respondents being the heirs at law of the said deceased. Upon inspection of the return, it appeared that the commissioners had appraised the whole of the deceased’s real estate at 61,440 dollars, a considerable part of which was woodland, and unproductive, and had then assigned to the appellant certain parcels of the estate, amounting, by…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court.
In the assignment of dower, commissioners are lo regard the rents and profits only of the several parcels of the estate out of which the dower is to be assigned. When they have ascertained the annual income of the whole estate, they ought to set off to the widow such a part as will yield her one third part of such income, in parcels best calculated for the convenience of herself and of the heirs. This rule is adapted equally to protect widows from having an unproductive part of estates assigned to them, and to guard heirs from being left, during the life of the widow, without the…
2Cited by7 opinions
- King v. MerrittMichigan Supreme Court · 1887
- Miller v. MillerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1815
- Johnson v. PerleySuperior Court of New Hampshire · 1819
- Fuller v. RustMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1891
- Goodspeed v. LawrenceMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1911
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