Eldredge v. Forrestal
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
This was a writ of entry, pending in the county of Barnstable, in which the demandants count upon the seisin of James Eldredge, their grandfather, and a devise by him to his son, Jesse Eldredge, their father, in fee simple, after the death of Priscilla, widow of the testator, and aver the death of the said Jesse, after his father, and in the lifetime of the said Priscilla, and her death afterwards, and an entry by the tenants thereupon, &c.
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This was a writ of entry, pending in the county of Barnstable, in which the demandants count upon the seisin of James Eldredge, their grandfather, and a devise by him to his son, Jesse Eldredge, their father, in fee simple, after the death of Priscilla, widow of the testator, and aver the death of the said Jesse, after his father, and in the lifetime of the said Priscilla, and her death afterwards, and an entry by the tenants thereupon, &c. The action was tried upon the general issue, before Sewall, J., at the last October term in Barnstable county. It appears, from the judge’s report of the…
1Opinion of the Court
* Sedgwick, J.
There is no doubt that an actual cotporeal seisin, or a right to such seisin, in the husband during the coverture, is indispensable to entitle his widow to dower; and that a legal seisin of a vested remainder is not sufficient for that purpose. As in this case there was an interposing estate for life, which was not determined until after the death of the husband, it is very clear that the tenant was not entitled to dower. The proceedings in the Probate Court are void ; and judgment must therefore be entered on the verdict.
2Cited by16 opinions
- Gray v. WhittemoreMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1906
- Durando v. . DurandoNew York Court of Appeals · 1861
- Green v. PutnamNew York Supreme Court · 1847
- Dunham v. OsbornNew York Court of Chancery · 1829
- McGuire v. CookSupreme Court of Arkansas · 1911
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