McCormack

This case involves the statutory restrictions on testamentary charitable gifts.

Facts

Thomas B. Reardon died April 19, 1932, leaving a will which he had executed January 6, 1930. His heirs were Mary A. Reardon, his wife; three sisters; and two children of a predeceased brother, John E. Reardon and Dorothy Reardon. A small amount of the estate was community property. The will provides that the widow may allow her community share to go into the trust described below, or may take it outright without diminishing her benefits under the trust. The widow took it outright. The rest of the estate was the testator’s separate property. Part of this property, amounting to about one-seventh of the total value, is bequeathed outright to the widow. The remaining six-sevenths is given to a trustee bank to be deposited into four separate trusts. One-half of the total distributed to the trustee is for the benefit of the spouse and one-sixth for each of the three sisters. When the testator died, his spouse’s age was 46; the ages of his sisters were 62, 69 and 72. On the death of any sister, the property in her trust is to go to the trust for the spouse. If the spouse were to die before any sister…