In re Estate of Fair

When this case was in department, the •following opinion was prepared by Commissioner Haynes:

Appellant petitioned the court below for an order directing the executors of the will of Theresa Fair, deceased, to pay to him the sum of five hundred thousand dollars, bequeathed to his brother, James Gr. Fair, Jr., and which, in case of the death of James, was, by the terms of the will, to be paid to petitioner. This appeal is from an order denying said petition.

The proper determination of the questions involves the consideration and construction of the whole of the will, which, omitting formal parts, is as follows:

The executors therein named were duly appointed and qualified in October, 1891.

The court found that appellant was of the age of twenty-five years and no more; that James G. Fair, Jr., died on the twelfth day of February, 1892, under the age of thirty years, and had never married; that the estate was but little indebted, and that the sum of five hundred thousand dollars prayed for by the petitioner might be allowed to him, if he were entitled thereto, without loss to the creditors of the estate.

As conclusions of law, the court found: “ That by the terms of said will…