Peirce v. Attorney General
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Bill in equity, filed in the Supreme Judicial Court for the county of Plymouth on July 14,1919, and afterwards amended by three of the four heirs at law and next of kin of Thomas S. Peirce, late of Middleborough, against the Attorney General and the trustees under the will of Thomas S. Peirce, to have the residuary clause of the will declared null and void and the residuary estate conveyed and distributed among the testator’s heirs at law and next of kin.
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Bill in equity, filed in the Supreme Judicial Court for the county of Plymouth on July 14,1919, and afterwards amended by three of the four heirs at law and next of kin of Thomas S. Peirce, late of Middleborough, against the Attorney General and the trustees under the will of Thomas S. Peirce, to have the residuary clause of the will declared null and void and the residuary estate conveyed and distributed among the testator’s heirs at law and next of kin. A motion by the town of Middleborough to be admitted as a party defendant was allowed. The defendants severally demurred for want of…
1Opinion of the CourtRugg, C. J.
This is a suit in equity wherein it is alleged that the heirs at law and next of kin of Thomas S. Peirce seek to have declared null and void the gift in the residuary clause of his will. That gift is of the residue of the testator’s estate to trustees “to be held as a special trust fund forever, the net income whereof to be paid semi-annually or oftener in the discretion of said Trustees to the use and benefit of the Town of Middleborough, in such manner as said Trustees or their successors shall determine.”
As matter of construction these testamentary words constitute the town of…
2Cases cited7 opinions
- Burbank v. BurbankMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1890
- Thorp v. LundMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1917
- City of Boston v. DoyleMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1903
- Dickson v. United StatesMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1878
- Trustees of New Castle Common v. MegginsonSupreme Court of Delaware · 1910
2 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by4 opinions
- Adams v. PlunkettMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1931
- Grigson v. HardingSupreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1958
- Peakes v. BlakelyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1955
- Boyd v. Frost National Bank of S.A.Texas Supreme Court · 1946