Wagner v. Ellis
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Certificate from the Nisi Prius. March 15. The plaintiffs in this ejectment were the devisees of George Wagner, who was the heir of his wife Mary, under the intestate law, she having died without issue or kindred.
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Certificate from the Nisi Prius. March 15. The plaintiffs in this ejectment were the devisees of George Wagner, who was the heir of his wife Mary, under the intestate law, she having died without issue or kindred. On the trial before Huston, J., it appeared that George Wagner and Mary were married in 1810. In 1812, they joined in articles of separation, reciting the existence of differences and their agreement to live apart, and conveying the land of the wife to trustees for her separate use, with power to the wife to sell, convey, or devise the land. The trustees also covenanted to indemnify…
1Opinion of the CourtRogers, J.
Marriage being an absolute gift to the husband of all the personal estate of the wife, he may dispose- off it by will, or he may empower her to make- a will, on the principle that he may waive the interest, if he.chooses, which the law secures to her, by enabling her to dispose of it during coverture. His consent, as regards personal estate, may be given either after the wife’s death or by prior- contract or assent. This principle, as applicable to personal property, is not and cannot be disputed, for it is recognised as law in all the elementary treatises from the earliest period; and the…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- West v. WestSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1824