Nevins's Appeal
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Appeal from the Orphans’ Court of Philadelphia. This was an appeal by Mary Nevins, the widow of Christopher Nevins, deceased, from the decree of the Orphans’ Court in relation to her claim for the sum of $300, under the Widows’ Exemption Law.
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Appeal from the Orphans’ Court of Philadelphia. This was an appeal by Mary Nevins, the widow of Christopher Nevins, deceased, from the decree of the Orphans’ Court in relation to her claim for the sum of $300, under the Widows’ Exemption Law. The case came into the Orphans’ Court on the petition of Richard H. Darrah, administrator of deceased, in which he set forth that the decedent died intestate in the month of March 1863, leaving a widow, Mrs. Mary Nevins, and three children by a former wife, viz.: Catharine, Christopher, and Ann, all of whom survive, are of full age, and unmarried; that…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered, by
Strong, J.
When, by the Act of 1851, it was enacted that the widow or the children of any decedent dying within this Commonwealth, testate or intestate, may retain either real or personal property belonging to said estate, to the value of $300, nothing more was intended than a temporary provision for the *232•widow, and those immediately dependent upon the deceased. The act was not designed as a statute of distributions. It has always been construed pather according to its spirit than its letter. Thus a widow who had deserted her husband, or who had lived…
2Cited by12 opinions
- Bell's EstateSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1939
- Estate of HenkelSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1900
- Ochsenhirt EstateSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1945
- Bell's EstatePennsylvania Orphans' Court, Philadelphia County · 1938
- Bell's EstatePennsylvania Orphans' Court, Philadelphia County · 1938
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