Chappell v Haynes
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 20 February 1858 |
| Date | 20 February 1858 |
| Court | High Court of Chancery |
English Reports Citation: 70 E.R. 68
HIGH COURT OF CHANCERY
Will. Freeman of City of London. Custom. Statutes of Distribution. Remainder Expectant on Life Interest. Stat. 11 Geo. 1, c. 18.
[163] chappell?;. haynes. Feb. 19, 20, 1858. Will. Freeman of City of London. Custom. Statutes of Distribution. Remainder Expectant on Life Interest. Stat. 11 Geo. 1, c. 18. If a freeman of the City of London dies leaving a will, but without having appointed! an executor, so much of his personal estate as he has not disposed of by his will must be distributed according to the custom of London, and not according to the- Statutes of Distribution. Bequest of leaseholds by a freeman of London to his wife for life, and no executor appointed. Held, that the residue of the term was distributable according to th& custom, and not according to the Statutes of Distribution. A special case. James Jeseph was a freeman of the City of London, and was possessed of three undivided fourth parts of certain leasehold property, held for a term of years, to expire in 1877 ; and by his will, in 1843, he bequeathed all his leasehold property to his wife Eleanor for her sole use during her life. The testator died in the same year without issue, leaving Eleanor Jeseph, his widow, and the Defendants his two sisters and sole next of kin. No executor having been named in the will, letters of administration with the will annexed were granted to the widow, who died in 1854, having by her will appointed the Plaintiff her executor, who proved her will. Since her death, administration de lionis nan with the will of James Jeseph was granted to one of the Defendants. The special case stated that, according to the custom of the City of London, the personal estate of an intestate freeman dying leaving a widow and no child was, at the respective times of the deaths of James Jeseph and Eleanor, his wife, distributable (1) See further, as to children, 1 Ch. Ca. 28, 296; 2 Id. 232; and as to a wife, the= cases collected in Bright's " Husband and Wife," vol. 1, p. 32. 4K.&J.164. HILL .V. WALKEK 69 as follows, namely, one half to the widow, and the other half to the administrator, to be disposed of according to the Statutes of Distribution. The question for the opinion of the Court was whether, under the circumstances above stated, the remainder expectant upon the life-estate of the widow in the three equal [164] undivided fourth parts of the leasehold premises became distributable...
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