Court: Supreme Court of Georgia; May 8, 1950; Georgia; State Supreme Court
Mrs. Georgie C. Comer executed a will on September 4, 1945, and passed away on April 13, 1948, with her will duly probated. The Citizens and Southern National Bank and W. Walter Douglas, as executors, sought a court ruling on the construction of the will, naming Mrs. Dorothy C. Collier and other residuary legatees as defendants. The will's Item Nine mandated the division of the estate into nine nearly equal parts, with one part going to William Comer Collier, who predeceased Mrs. Comer without descendants. The trial court found that Collier's legacy lapsed due to his death before the testatrix, denying Mrs. Collier, his widow, the claim to the legacy. The court ordered the remaining estate to be divided among the eight other legatees and the heirs of the testatrix. Mrs. Collier contested the ruling, arguing for jury involvement. However, the court ruled that the unambiguous nature of the will's language did not require jury input, affirming that the testatrix's intentions were clear.
A legacy lapses if the legatee dies before the testator, unless the will includes substitutionary language or statutory provisions to prevent this. According to Code 113-812, if a legatee dies before the testator but has living descendants at the testator's death, the legacy vests in those descendants. In this case, Mrs. Comer's legacy to her nephew, William Comer Collier, was absolute and without limitations, but he predeceased her and left no descendants. Therefore, the legacy lapsed, and his widow, as his heir, has no claim to it. Consequently, Mrs. Collier has no interest in Mrs. Comer's estate, and no further judgment review is necessary since no other interested parties have objected. The court's decision is affirmed, with all Justices in agreement.
