In re the Estate of De Cant

Headnote

Will — construction — gift of ten thousand dollars in face value of certain stock is gift of stock of par value of the amount named.

Matter of De Cant (Estate), 198 App. Div. 982 , affirmed.

Appeal from an order of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court m the third judicial department, entered November 2,1921, which reversed a decree of the Jefferson County Surrogate’s Court construing the will of Lincoln G. De Cant, deceased. The will in question contained the following provision: “ I give and bequeath to my sister, Persis C. Johnson, Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000) in face value of the stock in the Carthage Sulphite Pulp & Paper Company, provided I am the owner thereof at

the time of my death. I likewise give Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000) in face value of the same stock to my brother, I. Wood De Cant, provided I am the owner thereof at the time of my death.” The surrogate held that the legacy in question was not a specific legacy, but was a demonstrative legacy; that the words “ face value ” did not mean “ par value; ” that the words “ face value,” as used in the will, meant the value of the stock as shown by the books of the company, viz., its book value, and after holding that the testator meant its book value, he then proceeded to hold that there should be given to the legatees, not $10,000 of face value, but 40 shares of said stock, upon the theory that each share of common stock was worth $250 a share. The Appellate Division held that the gift of “ Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000) in face value of the stock in the Carthage Sulphite Pulp & Paper Company ” is a gift of stock of the par value of $10,000, namely, 100 shares of stock of the par value of $100.