US SUPREME COURT DECISIONS

CRAIG V. LESLIE, 16 U. S. 563 (1818)

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U.S. Supreme Court

Craig v. Leslie, 16 U.S. 3 Wheat. 563 563 (1818)

Craig v. Leslie

16 U.S. (3 Wheat.) 563

Syllabus

R.C. a citizen of Virginia, being seized of real property in that state, made his will:

"In the first place I give, devise, and bequeath unto J.L. [and four others] all my estate, real and personal, of which I may die seized and possessed in any part of America, in special trust that the aforementioned persons or such of them as may be living at my death will sell my personal estate to the highest bidder, on two years' credit, and my real estate on one, two, and three years' credit, provided satisfactory security be given by bond and deed of trust. In the second place, I give and bequeath to my brother T.C. [an alien] all the proceeds of my estate, real and, personal, which I have herein directed to be sold, to be remitted to him accordingly as the payments are made, and I hereby declare the aforesaid J.L. [and the four other persons] to be my trustees and executors for the purposes aforementioned."

Held that the legacy given to T.C. in the will of R.C. was to be considered as a bequest of personal estate, which he was capable of taking for his own benefit, though an alien.

Equity considers land, directed in wills or other instruments to be sold and converted into money as money, and money directed to be employed in the purchase of land as land.

The heir at law has a resulting trust in such lands, after the debts and legacies are paid, and may come into equity and restrain the trustee from selling more than sufficient to pay them, or may offer to pay them himself, and pray a conveyance of the part of the land not sold in the first case, and the whole in the latter, which property in either case will be land and not money.

Equity will extend the same privilege to the residuary legatee which is allowed to the heir, to pay the debts and legacies and call for a conveyance of the real estate or to restrain the trustees from selling more than is necessary to pay the debts and legacies.

But if the intent of the testator appears to have been to stamp upon the proceeds of the land directed to be sold, the quality of personalty, not only for the particular purposes of the will but to all intents, the claim of the heir at law to a resulting trust is defeated and the estate is considered to be personal.

Where the whole beneficial interest in the land or money thus directed to be employed belongs to the person for whose use it is given, a court of equity will permit the cestui que trust to take the money or the land at his election, if he elect before the conversion is made.

But in case of the death of the cestui que trust without having determined his election, the property will pass to his heirs or personal representatives in the same manner as it would have done if the conversion had been made and the trust executed in his lifetime.

The case of Roper v. Radcliff, 9 Mod. 167, examined, distinguished from the present case, and, so far as it conflicts with it, overruled.

An alien may take by purchase a freehold or other interest in land and may hold it against all the world except the King, and even against him until office found, and is not accountable for the rents and profits previously received. chanrobles.com-red

Page 16 U. S. 564

This was a case certified from the Circuit Court for the District of Virginia in which the opinions of the judges of that court were opposed on the following question, viz., whether the legacy given to Thomas Craig, an alien, in the will of Robert Craig is to be considered as a devise which he can take only for the benefit of the commonwealth and cannot hold, or a bequest of a personal chattel which he could take for his own benefit.

This question grows out of the will of Robert Craig, a citizen of Virginia, and arose in a suit brought on the equity side of the Circuit Court for the District of Virginia by Thomas Craig against the trustee named in the will of the said Robert Craig to compel the said trustee to execute the trusts by selling the trust fund and paying over the proceeds of the same to the complainant.

The clause in the will of Robert Craig, upon which the question arises, is expressed in the following terms viz.,

"In the first place, I give, devise, and bequeath unto John Leslie [and four others] all my estate, real and personal, of which I may die seized or possessed, in any part of America, in special trust, that the aforementioned persons, or such of them as may be

Page 16 U. S. 565

living at my death, will sell my personal estate to the highest bidder on two years' credit, and my real estate on one, two, and three years' credit, provided satisfactory security be given by bond and deed of trust. In the second place, I give and bequeath to my brother, Thomas Craig, of Beith parish, Ayrshire, Scotland, all the proceeds of my estate, both real and personal, which I have herein directed to be sold, to be remitted unto him accordingly as the payments are made, and I hereby declare the aforesaid John Leslie [and the four other persons] to be my trustees and executors for the purposes aforementioned."

The Attorney General of Virginia, on behalf of that state, filed a cross-bill against the plaintiff in the original suit, and the trustee, the prayer of which is to compel the trustee to sell the trust estate, so far as it consists of real estate, and to appropriate the proceeds to the use of the said commonwealth by paying the same into its public Treasury.

The will of Robert Craig was proved in June, 1811, and the present suit was instituted sometime in the year 1815. chanrobles.com-red

Page 16 U. S. 576



























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