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41 N.C. 55

Murray v. . Oliver

Supreme Court of North Carolina

Decided June 5, 1849

Supreme Court of North Carolina · decided 1849-06-05

Cause removed from the Court of Equity of Caswell County, at Fall Term 1848. On the 30th of January 1827, Stephen Oliver made his will in which the residuary clause is as follows : ‘if there should be any remaining, after paying the moneys that I am security for him for, as for the balance of my estate, my desire is, that it shall be equally divided among the whole of my children during their natural lives.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1849-06-05

How this case has been cited

Cited by 4 later decisions — most recently November 1960

4 state decisions

201849185018601870188018901900191019201930194019501960decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Pearson, J.

¶1 Whatever might have been the construction of the residuary clause, had it stood upon the original publication in 1827, it is put beyond doubt, by the republication in May 1828, by the codicil of that date. For, by the republication, the will is made to speak and operate from that time. The act of 1827, ch. 7 had then gone into effect, and gave efficacy to the limitation over. Whatever doubt was once entertained, it is now unquestionably settled, that adding a codicil is a republication,. and the codicil brings the will to it, and make it a will from the date of the codicil. Much more must it have that operation in putting a benignant sense on the words *57 of the will, so as to make its provisions, in reference to personal property, take effect.

¶2 Therefore, it must be declared, that, upon the death of Robert Oliver, without having had a child, the slaves, allotted to him, and their increase, under the will of his father, belonged to his surviving brothers, and the present representatives of Reuben, who died leaving children. There must be a decree for a division accordingly, and for an account of the property, since the death of Robert.

Per Curiam.

¶3 Decree accordingly.

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