Ladd v. Whitney
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Bill in equity for the specific performance of a written agree•ment by which the defendant agreed to purchase a parcel of land in Watertown, and the plaintiff agreed to sell and convey it to him “ by deed of warranty and free from all incumbrances.”
Read the full summary
Bill in equity for the specific performance of a written agree•ment by which the defendant agreed to purchase a parcel of land in Watertown, and the plaintiff agreed to sell and convey it to him “ by deed of warranty and free from all incumbrances.” The answer set up in defence that the lot in question was formerly owned by the wife of the plaintiff who died seised of the same, and that the plaintiff derived his title from the will of his wife, which was as follows : “ I give, devise and bequeath all the property and estate of every kind and description, real and personal, of which I shall…
1Opinion of the CourtWells, J.
The will contains a devise of a fee to Caleb Ladd in distinct, appropriate and unambiguous terms. There is nothing in the subsequent words to indicate a purpose to cut down his *202interest to a life estate. The mention of grandchildren as taking equal shares with the heirs, does not necessarily indicate that they are to take in remainder as purchasers. It may have been prompted by a doubt whether issue of deceased children would otherwise take as heirs with surviving children. H.owever that may be, the added words, if not senseless, are too obscure and too , incapable of reduction to certainty…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Gifford v. ChoateMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1868
3Cited by3 opinions
- First and American National Bank v. HigginsSupreme Court of Minnesota · 1940
- Barrett v. MarshMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1879
- Melotte v. TucciMassachusetts District Court, Appellate Division · 1946