Court Opinion

ID: 9597172
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 00:56:11.33774+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:01:37.101527
License: Public Domain

Jordan, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent from that portion of the majority opinion dealing with the construction of the will.
*199It is elementary that the courts in construing a will must look to the four corners of the will in an effort to determine the intention of the testator. The rule is simple. Its application can be extremely difficult.
The difficulty in this case is to apply the rule to the language "or other securities” as used in Item 5 of the testator’s will. As set forth in the majority opinion there is case law to uphold differing interpretations. The majority opinion states, "we simply cannot read these provisions of the will together and conclude that the testator meant for promissory notes held by him and his own savings and loan deposits to be 'other securities’...” Under my reading of the will I simply reach a different conclusion.
It is clear that the notes secured by real estate and the savings and loan certificates must be included under either Item 5 or Item 6 of the will. My conclusion that the testator intended that they be included in Item 5 of the will rests mainly on the fact that they are more closely related to the class of property devised under Item 5 of the will than to the property devised under Item 6 of the will. It is noted that Item 5 deals with furniture, personal effects, works of art, automobiles, bonds, stocks, or "other securities.” In my opinion this catch-all phrase "other securities” as used by the testator in Item 5 encompasses notes and other assets secured by written evidence of an indebtedness, such as notes and certificates of deposit. In setting up the trust in Item 6, the testator was dealing with assets of a different nature, mainly his residence, tracts of real estate, hospital rights and equipment. In my opinion the catch-all phrase in Item 6 "and all other property of every kind and description, tangible and intangible, . . .” related only to property similar to that described in that Item.
In other words, looking at Item 5 and Item 6 together it is my opinion that the notes secured by real estate and the savings and loan certificates more nearly fit in the class of the assets devised in Item 5 than in the class of assets devised in Item 6.
This construction is bolstered by Code Ann. § 97-102 (a) (16) which defines a security as follows: " 'Security’ means any note, stock, treasury stock, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, certificate of indebtedness, *200investment certificate, certificate of interest or participation in any profit sharing agreement, ... or any other instrument commonly known as a security, . . .” (Emphasis supplied.)
I agree with the construction as given in the trial court’s order and since I agree with that portion of the majority opinion as to attorney fees, I would affirm with direction that the award of attorney fees be stricken from the judgment.
I respectfully dissent.