Haven v. Foster
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
On the 24tb of October, 1820, Thomas Foster made his last will, in which he directs his executors to invest 1500 dollars in bank stock, and to pay the interest or dividends thereof to Hannah Newell during her life.
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On the 24tb of October, 1820, Thomas Foster made his last will, in which he directs his executors to invest 1500 dollars in bank stock, and to pay the interest or dividends thereof to Hannah Newell during her life. He then proceeds : — “I give, bequeath and devise to my orother John Foster the use and improvement of one half of all my estate, except said 1500 dollars, during his natural life, and the other half, except said sum of 1500 dollars, in equal shares and in fee simple, to all the children of my brother Andrew Foster, and my sister Elizabeth Haven, respectively, who shall be living…
1Opinion of the Court
Shaw C. J.
drew up the opinion of the Court. It is now a rule of law too well established to be shaken, and one upon which titles to property have long rested in this commonwealth, that a devise of real estate can take effect orfly as to estate, of which the testator is seised at the time of making the devise, that is, at the date of the execution of the will, and that however strongly the intention is expressed by the testator, to extend the operation of his last will, so as to make it pass the estate which he might afterwards acquire before his death, yet according to the rules of law such…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Hays v. JacksonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1809
- Brownell v. De WolfU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Rhode Island · 1824
3Cited by1 opinion
- Manship v. StewartIndiana Supreme Court · 1914