In re the Estate of Sloat

Wingate, S.

The testatrix by her will left more than one-half of her estate to charities. The law limits such gifts to one-half of the estate (Dec. Est. Law, § 17). The heirs and next of kin. asserted their legal rights to take the excess over the limitation enjoined by the pertinent statute. The charities affected resisted this assertion of their legal rights and the questions involved were submitted to the court for determination. The rights of the heirs and next of kin to take the excess over one-half the net estate were upheld. The law on the subject was plain and had been frequently and…