Court Opinion

ID: 9736682
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:02:30.388258+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:27:08.060774
License: Public Domain

GRAFF, District Judge
(concurring in part, dissenting in part).
I concur with that portion of the majority opinion which holds that paragraph four of the will gave to Frank Hitz a vested remainder in the real property subject to a lien in favor of Ann Pécora in the sum of four thousand dollars. By this construction, this Court not only follows the majority rule in the United States, but further carries out the intention of the testator in distributing his property. However, in my opinion, the Court errs in delaying the enforceability of that lien until the life estate is terminated.
The majority, in delaying the enforceability of the lien, equates the right of actual possession by the remainderman with its value. This finding ignores the fact that a vested remainderman is the immediate owner of a transferrable interest. He has the right of enjoyment of that property from and after the date of death. This includes not only his right to sell, but to prevent waste by the life tenant since the life tenant may not take any steps to diminish the estate of the remainderman. In North Dakota, these interests could include the remainderman’s rights as they relate to *142oil and gas, gravel, coal or timber. In my opinion, these indeed are valuable rights and it is a fundamental inconsistency to vest those rights in the remainderman and delay all the rights of the lienholder.
The majority, in my opinion, has misplaced reliance on the Armentrout case. Armentrout not only relies upon possession as the key factor, but in addition does not construe the provision in that will as creating a vested remainder. The language 72 S.E. at page 722, which follows the initial quote in the majority opinion states:
“Clearly the appellees have the right to elect whether they will or will not accept the provision for them, coupled with the requirement that they discharge the payments imposed upon them by the will. There is no allegation in the bill that the remaindermen have elected to accept the devise and bequest in their favor, and until the expiration of the life estate they cannot be required to make such election, because until that time arrives they cannot determine the value of the devises and bequests to them.”
We have not made such a determination in this case. Our ruling is that the estate has in fact vested at the death of the testator, and the only way in which it will be lost is for the equitable lienholder to foreclose her lien.
The Schrader case, as in Armentrout, relies heavily upon actual possession by the beneficiaries as keying the time for payment. The statements I have previously made regarding the enjoyment of the property without actual possession would apply to my disregard of that precedent.
In construing the devise in question, I believe the testator had two objects. He wanted the land in question to go to his son, Frank Hitz, and he also wanted his daughter, Ann Pécora, to receive four thousand dollars. In order for these objects to be carried out, the lien must be due and payable immediately. I believe logic as well as the facts in this case support that conclusion. The logic I refer to is the fact that four thousand dollars due and payable in 1962, that being the date of death, is worth far more than the sum of four thousand dollars in 1983. I believe the testator knew what that value was at or about the time of his death, but in no way could estimate what the value would be upon his wife’s death.
In addition to that factor, I would consider the testimony of the scrivener of the will in arriving at this conclusion. Although it is evident that he is not aware of what property interest he created by the provision in the will, it is clear that he felt that the payments to be made by Frank Hitz were due and payable upon the death of the testator. His testimony reveals that from and after the date of death, he continually requested that Frank Hitz make the payment. Although I believe his testimony is good for little else, I believe it has merit in that regard.
Based on the foregoing, I would allow the lien to be enforceable from and after the date of the testator’s death. At that time it became a legacy for Ann Pécora and to which she was entitled. Under the law in existence at that time, legacies were due and deliverable at the expiration of one year from the testator’s decease. Section 56-06-12 further provided that legacies would bear interest from the time they become due and payable.
I would change the results in this case by allowing interest on the four thousand dollars at the legal rate from and after March 19, 1963, the one year anniversary of John Hitz’s death. Not only do I believe this is required by the law, but this more effectively carries out the intention of the testator.