In Re Wood

This is a proceeding to determine heirship under section 1664 of the Code of Civil Procedure and to void the residuary clause of the will of Henry Wood bequeathing the residue of his estate in trust for the benefit of the inmates of the State Orphans' Home of the State of Nevada. The probate court entered a judgment sustaining the residuary clause of the will, from which the petitioner appeals on a bill of exceptions. The clause under attack reads in part as follows: "I give . . . all the rest . . . of my estate . . . to the State Orphans Home at Carson City, Nevada. All of the sum total of said property bequeathed, shall constitute a perpetual trust fund . . . The Board of Directors of the State Orphans Home, and their successors thereof, to have and to hold the said trust fund as a perpetual trust, and each successive year to expend all the interest derived from the said trust fund for that year in purchasing useful and pleasing presents at Christmas time of each year for distribution among the orphans of said State Orphans Home." (Emphasis ours.) *Page 696 [1] The probate court found that it was the true intent of the testator to make a gift in trust to the directors of the…