Joseph Story

Name: Wright v. Denn Page — Opinion of the Court
Author: Joseph Story

Wright v. Denn Page — Opinion of the Court

Summary

“Wright v. Denn Page — Opinion of the Court”, is a work by Joseph Story. It explores elements such as estate, testator and legacies.

Quotes from Wright v. Denn Page — Opinion of the Court (Joseph Story)

Joseph Story, Wright v. Denn Page — Opinion of the Court

“ But, if words are used by him, which are insensible in the place where they occur, or their common meaning is deserted, and no other is furnished by the will, Courts are driven to the necessity of deeming them as merely insignificant or surplusage, and to find the true interpretation of the will without them. In the present case, the words, 'all the rest of my lands and tenements,' stand wholly disconnected with any preceding clause. There is nothing to which 'the rest' has relation, for no other devise of real estate is made. We have no certain guide to the testator's intention in using them. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Story, Wright v. Denn Page — Opinion of the Court

“ If these words had occurred in a will devising an estate for years, or for life, or in fee, in express terms, they would not, probably, have been thought to have any distinct auxiliary signification, but to be merely a more full annunciation of what the law would imply. Occurring in a clause where the estate is undefined, they are supposed to have a peculiar force; so that, 'freely to possess and enjoy,' must mean to possess and enjoy without any limitation or restriction as to estate or right. The argument is, that a tenant for life is restricted in many respects. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Story, Wright v. Denn Page — Opinion of the Court

“ This would certainly be going much farther than the words themselves authorize, and much farther than any preceding clause requires or justifies. A charge of legacies on land would not be a devise of the real estate in the ordinary understanding of men, nor in the contemplation of law. It would make them a lien on, and payable out of, the land; but it would still be distinguishable from an estate in the land. But it is sufficient for us to declare, that we cannot make these legacies a charge on the land, except by going beyond, and not by following, the language of the will ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Story, Wright v. Denn Page — Opinion of the Court

“ The testator has not disposed of the whole of his personal estate, which is the natural fund for the payment of lagacies; non constat, how much or how little he left. For aught that appears, the personal estate may greatly have exceeded all the legacies; and if it did not, that would be no sufficient reason to charge them on the land. It is not a sound interpretation of a will, to construe charges which ordinarily belong to the personalty, to be charges on the realty, simply because the original fund is insufficient. The charge must be created by the words of the will. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Story, Wright v. Denn Page — Opinion of the Court

“ Before proceeding to the particular examination of the legal effect of these different clauses in the will, it is necessary to state that, where there are no words of limitation to a devise, the general rule of law is, that the devisee takes an estate for life only, unless, from the language there used, or from other parts of the will, there is a plain intention to give a larger estate. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Story, Wright v. Denn Page — Opinion of the Court

“ Nor can any intention to give a fee to the wife be legally deduced from the proviso, in any way of interpreting the terms, because it is as perfectly consistent with the intention to defeat a life estate, as a fee in the whole of the lands. The testator, with a limited property, might justly think it too much to take from his own issue the substance of their inheritance during a long minority, in favour of a wife, who might live many years, and form new connexions. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Story, Wright v. Denn Page — Opinion of the Court

“ The most that can be said is, that where the words of the devise admit of passing a greater interest than for life, Courts will lay hold of the introductory clause, to assist them in ascertaining the intention. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Joseph Story, Wright v. Denn Page — Opinion of the Court

“ The next clause is, 'provided she has no lawful issue.' The probable intention of this proviso was, 'provided she has no lawful issue' by me. Men do not, ordinarily, look to remote occurrences in the structure of their wills, and especially unlearned men. The testator was young, and his wife young, and it was natural for them not to despair of issue, although, at the time of the will, he was in ill health. ”

Joseph Story

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