Case Title: Moffett v. Howard

Citation: 392 So. 2d 509

Docket Number: 52290

State: mississippi

Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Date: 1981-01-07T00:00:00Z

Document:
392 So. 2d 509 (1981) Bessie V. MOFFETT et al. v. Maudine Moffett HOWARD. No. 52290. Supreme Court of Mississippi. January 7, 1981. Claude A. Chamberlin, Houston, Chamberlin & Houston, Aberdeen, for appellants. Julian W. Fagan, III, Amory, for appellee. Before PATTERSON, C.J., and WALKER and BROOM, JJ. PATTERSON, Chief Justice, for the Court: In a will construction proceeding in the Chancery Court of Monroe County, Bessie V. Moffett, executrix, et al, sought interpretation of the residuary clause of the last will and testament of the late Elzie G. Moffett. The court below held the residuary bequests and devises to be gifts to individuals rather than a class gift so that certain lapsed residuary bequests and devises descended by the laws of intestacy to testator's sole heir-at-law, Mrs. Maudine Moffett Howard. Aggrieved, Bessie V. Moffett, executrix, Jimmy M. DePietro, George R. Moffett, and Frank W. Moffett, sister and brothers of deceased, appeal, assigning as error: The court erred (1) in holding the residuary shares of the three brothers and one sister of testator who predeceased him to be intestate property and not a part of the residue to be divided among the surviving residuary beneficiaries; (2) in not finding it was the intention of the testator that the shares of any residuary beneficiaries who predeceased testator were to go to the surviving residuary beneficiaries; and (3) in not holding the residuary clause in the will to be a gift to a class. Elzie G. Moffett, testator, executed his last will and testament on August 17, 1964. In Item IV he made residuary bequests and devises to his only daughter and eight named brothers and sisters. The clause in question provides as follows: Following the execution of the will and prior to testator's death on November 11, 1978, one sister and three brothers named in the residuary clause predeceased the testator. Although the testator was fully cognizant of this fact, there is no evidence that he executed a codicil to his will or attempted in any manner to change its terms after their death. Other provisions of testator's will, not in dispute but relevant in determining testator's intent, directed his sister, Bessie V. Moffett, who had lived with her brother until his death, to serve as executrix and also gave her a sizeable portion of his estate in addition to the residuary devise and bequest. On appeal, two issues arise. The first is whether the testator intended to make a class gift or a gift to individuals. The second is the ultimate disposition of the 4/9 ths lapsed residue. Concerning the class gift issue, we are of the opinion the court correctly held the bequest and devise to be to individuals. Each residuary beneficiary was specified by name, and absent a clear intent of the testator to create a class gift, the construction preference for gifts to individuals is applied. We said in Cain v. Dunn, 241 So. 2d 650 (Miss. 1970), the following: Appellants cite Shannon v. Riley, 153 Miss. 815, 121 So. 808 (1929), to support their position that the residuary legacy was a gift to a class even though the testator's daughter and siblings were specifically named in the will. Shannon defines a class gift as follows: There this Court interpreted a ten-year inter vivos trust to be a class gift where the trustor's son was named trustee with each of trustee's children to receive an equal share of the income. The trust instrument was carefully drafted with specificity and detail so that the donor's intent to treat the beneficiaries as a unified group or class was clearly evident from the face of the trust. A major factor indicating a class gift was language in the trust which provided that if a child should die without issue, then his or her share would go to the surviving brothers and sisters to share and share alike. The present is distinguishable because there is no language indicating the survivors should take the predeceaseds' shares. In fact, the will is totally silent on the disposition to be made of the residue in the event a residuary beneficiary predeceased testator. Because testator did not provide for such a contingency, we are of the opinion that to hold otherwise would in effect be an attempt to rewrite the will. Appellants contend that testator, with actual knowledge of the death of four residuary beneficiaries, did not change the disposition in his will, thereby indicating an intention that the surviving residuary members should take the lapsed residue. We believe this to be argumentative speculation to add provisions to the will which are non-existent. This Court stated in Byrd v. Wallis, 182 Miss. 499, 181 So. 727 (1938), concerning testator's failure to provide for a contingency: The rule in Mississippi is "[i]f the gift is made to beneficiaries by name, the gift is, prima facie, not one to a class, even if the individuals who are named possess some quality or characteristic in common," 4 Page on Wills (3d ed. 1961) section 35.4. This principle forms the basis for this *512 Court's decisions in numerous cases including Eubanks v. Lucius, 257 So. 2d 215 (Miss. 1972); Cain v. Dunn, 241 So. 2d 650 (Miss. 1970); Lee v. Foley, 224 Miss. 684, 80 So. 2d 765, 61 A.L.R.2d 209 (1955); Meyers v. Teichman, 219 Miss. 860, 70 So. 2d 17 (1954); Cross v. O'Cavanaugh, 198 Miss. 137, 21 So. 2d 473 (1945); and Byrd v. Wallis, 182 Miss. 499, 181 So. 727 (1938). However, this is not to say the presumption in favor of a gift to individuals cannot be overcome by language or other provisions of the will which would denote an intent on the part of the testator to treat the individuals as a unified group or whole, Shannon, supra. Presently, we are of the opinion, after study of the testator's will, that no intention to treat the residuary beneficiaries as a unified group is manifested. This brings us to the second issue concerning the disposition of the 4/9ths lapsed residue. In the absence of an anti-lapse statute providing for lapsed residue to remain part of the residuum, the common law as applied in Mississippi requires the lapsed residue to descend by the laws of intestate distribution so long as the deceased residuary beneficiaries are not children of testator. See Miss. Code Ann. § 91-5-7 (1972). The common law rule is stated in 6 Page on Wills (3d ed. 1961) section 50.18: See Meyers v. Teichman; Clark v. Case; and Byrd v. Wallis, supra. Therefore, the lapsed portions of testator's estate descend by the laws of intestate succession to Elzie G. Moffett's heir-at-law, his daughter. AFFIRMED. SMITH and ROBERTSON, P. JJ., and SUGG, WALKER, BROOM, LEE and BOWLING, JJ., concur.