Opinion ID: 2118435
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: 532 The Real Property Acquired After the Execution of the Will.

Text: At common law, real estate which was received by the testator after the date of his will could not pass thereunder. A will only passed that realty of which the testator was seised at the time of the making of his will. Most jurisdictions have modified this common-law rule so as to enable a testator to pass after-acquired realty, provided there is the intention so to do. Anno. 75 A. L. R. 474, 484-507; 3 American Law of Property, p. 580, sec. 14.9; 96 C. J. S., Wills, p. 156, sec. 756 c. The statutes accomplishing this modification of the common law have taken various forms, the Wisconsin statute being sec. 238.03, which provides as follows: Any estate, right, or interest in lands acquired by the testator after the making of his will shall pass thereby in like manner as if possessed at the time of making the will if such shall manifestly appear by the will to have been the intention of the testator. It is apparent that by enacting this section in 1849, the Wisconsin legislature, as a matter of public policy, intended to modify the common law so as to permit a testator to pass an interest in land even though acquired after the making of his will. Did George Zink in his will demonstrate an intention to pass after-acquired real estate? In our opinion he did. After making some specific bequests the residue of his estate was disposed of by using the following terminology: All the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate, both real, personal, and mixed, and wheresoever situate, I do give and bequeath in the following manner... We believe that this disposition effectively shows an intention on the part of George Zink to include after-acquired  real estate. It meets the standard set down in Restatement, 3 Property, p. 1233, sec. 244 g : ... any disposition which gives `all my property' or employs other words of substantially similar meaning, is construed to make a disposition in accordance with, and subject to modification by, any events which increase or decrease his assets and which occur subsequent to the execution of the will and before the death of the testator. This court has frequently expressed itself in favor of a presumption against intestacy, particularly where a residuary clause is involved. Will of Nielsen (1950), 256 Wis. 521, 527, 41 N. W. (2d) 369. To the same effect is Estate of Britt (1946), 249 Wis. 30, 34, 23 N. W. (2d) 498, where the court said: The presumption of the law is against an intended intestacy as to any part of an estate because the will indicates a contrary general intention. This presumption is strengthened by the presence of a residuary clause, one obvious purpose of which is to preclude the occurrence of intestacies by unforeseen contingencies. We do not regard the case of Will of Smith (1922), 176 Wis. 494, 186 N. W. 180, as resolving the question under consideration. The residuary clause in that will incorporated the word expectancy, and the court's conclusion that after-acquired realty passed thereunder does not resolve the question in the case at bar. But cf. 1960 Wisconsin Law Review, 345, 347. Several other states with statutes comparable to that of Wisconsin have reached the conclusion that a will with a residuary clause expresses the necessary intention to dispose of the testator's entire property whether acquired before or after the making of the will. In re Little Joe (1931), 165 Wash. 628, 5 Pac. (2d) 995; Silverman v. Larson (1927), 124 Kan. 267, 259 Pac. 707; Whitney v. Whitney (1916),  178 Iowa 117, 159 N. W. 657. But cf. Bedell v. Fradenburgh (1896), 65 Minn. 361, 68 N. W. 41; Raines v. Barker (1856), 54 Va. (13 Gratt.) 128, 67 Am. Dec. 762. In our opinion the better-reasoned decisions sustain the position that where the will evidences an intention to dispose of all his property, whether it be contained in a residuary clause or in some other expression of the will, after-acquired realty does pass under such will. By the Court. Order affirmed.