WILLS - CONSTRUCTION - LIMITATION OF DEFEASANCE CLAUSE

Authors

Herbert R. Whiting, University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

Testatrix died leaving as her only heirs at law and next of kin a son, Thomas, and a grandaughter, Malinda, to whom she devised her estate in approximately equal shares. At the time she executed her will Thomas was twenty-two years of age and unmarried and Malinda was eleven. The principal case turns on the construction of a clause in her will, devising a parcel of land to Malinda, which reads as follows: "I give and bequeath ... the same to the said Malinda McK. Young and her children but if the said Malinda McK. Young shall die before she attains the full age of twenty-one years without having been married, but if she marries and dies without leaving child or children then in such a case I give the same to my said son, Thomas H. Young." Malinda married at the age of twenty-four and had issue, but both her husband and the child predeceased her. Devisees of the testatrix' son, Thomas, claimed an executory interest in the property on Malinda's death without surviving issue. Held, the fee vested in Malinda subject to defeasance on one event only, namely, if Malinda died without having married and borne a child before her twenty-first birthday. Young v. Munsey Trust Co., (App. D. C. 1940) III F. (2d) 514.

Recommended Citation

Herbert R. Whiting, WILLS - CONSTRUCTION - LIMITATION OF DEFEASANCE CLAUSE, 39 Mich. L. Rev. 1053 (1941).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol39/iss6/29