Estate of Gibson

The provision of the will under discussion here is in these terms:

The “Sisters of Mercy” claims this bequest, alleging that it is' an incorporation incorporated March 7, 1868, under the laws of California, and that it has since continued to exist under the laws then in force, having its principal place of business in San Francisco; that among its objects is the care of sick, unprotected and needy persons, and that to carry out said object the corporation, prior to January 1, 1878, organized and instituted the Old Ladies’ Home, mentioned and described in the provision herein quoted from the will of Almira Gibson; that the said Old Ladies’ Home is and has been conducted by the Sisters of Mercy, corporation, as part of its work, and as one of the means to carry out its object, and that it is carried on and conducted in the building belonging to said corporation; and that the bequest in said will to the “Old Ladies’ Home” was intended to go to the corporation for the benefit of said part of its work, namely, the Old Ladies’ Home. To this claim the heirs at law respond that the legatee has no legal capacity to take, and that they are entitled to the residue of the estate. The heirs…