Thomas T. Read, Respondents v. George C. Williams, as Executors

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals held that next of kin may sue in equity to construe a will alleged invalid, that a codicil granting executors a power to appoint charitable institutions without a sufficiently defined class is void for indefiniteness, that a direction to sell real estate does not create an equitable conversion when the residuary clause fails, and that a charitable cemetery trust is void as an unlawful suspension of ownership. The court reversed the lower court's finding of equitable conversion and affirmed its other rulings.