Inglehart v. Inglehart, 204 U.S. 478 (1907)
Inglehart v. Inglehart
No. 158
Argued January 15, 16, 1907
Decided February 25, 1907
204 U.S. 478
APPEAL FROM THE COURT OF APPEALS
OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
In a general code such a that of the District of Columbia, a later section does not nullify an earlier one a being the later expression of legislative will; the whole code should, if possible, he harmonized, and, to that end, the letter of a particular section may be disregarded in order to accomplish the plain intent of the legislature.
Section 669 of the Code of the District of Columbia, making it lawful for cemetery association incorporated under the laws of the District to hold grants in trust without time limitations, is not nullified by § 1023 limiting trusts to one life in being and twenty-one years thereafter.
In pursuance of the general comity existing between states, a trust permitted by the law of the District of Columbia in favor of cemetery associations incorporated under the laws of the District will be sustained in favor of a cemetery association of a state which has power under the laws of that state to hold property under similar conditions.
26 App.D.C. affirmed.
This is an appeal from a decree of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia affirming a decree of the Supreme Court of the District construing a will. 26 App.D.C. 209. The bill was filed by the executor of the will of Annie E. I. Andrews, who was a resident of the District at the time of her death and whose will was there duly admitted to probate March 28, 1904. The supreme court held that all disputed provisions of the will were valid, and entered a decree to that effect, which was affirmed by the Court of Appeals on an appeal taken by these appellants separately from the other parties defendant, by leave of the Supreme Court of the District. All necessary persons were made party to the suit. The deceased left an estate of about $10,000, of which $3,000 consisted of real estate in the City of Washington.
The disputed portions of the will are clauses one, ten, and twelve, and they are set forth in the margin.
J. Howard Iglehart, the executor, is the son of a deceased brother of the testatrix (mentioned in the first clause of the will), and the two appellants are, respectively, her brother and sister.
The executor, in his bill, alleged his readiness to distribute the estate as directed by the will, but he said that some of the heirs at law disputed the validity of some of its provisions, and hence his appeal to the court for a construction of those clauses.
The grounds of the dispute are stated to be that the trusts created in the first and twelfth clauses of the will are void, as in violation of the statute of the District of Columbia prohibiting perpetuities and restraints upon alienation. Sec. 1023, Code D.C. The devise of the real estate is alleged to be void on that ground, as is also the residuary bequest to the cemetery company, while the direction to erect a monument, as provided in section ten of the will, it is alleged, must fall with the destruction of the trust, as it is part of the general scheme of the will, and is inseparable from the trust provisions. The executor submitted the questions to the court and did not appeal from the original decree nor from the decree of affirmance by the Court of Appeals, and he now asks that this Court should make proper provision for his protection and that of the estate in regard to the costs involved by the contention between the defendant and the appellants.