In re Estate of Paulson

The opinion of the court was delivered by The ultimate question in this appeal is whether Doris I. Paulson, deceased, owned at the time of her death a remainder interest in some 560 acres of land in Butler county. The answer to that question depends upon the construction of the will of her grandfather Peder Paulson, who died in 1927, and whose will was made in 1914 and a codicil appended thereto in 1916. The question arose in the probate court of Butler county when William I. Paulson and W. Carl Paulson, father and brother respectively of Doris, filed separate answers to the petition for final settlement of Katherine Breen, executrix and sole legatee and devisee under the will of Doris I. Paulson, deceased. Peder Paulson divided his property among his various children after providing for his wife Martha. It would appear that Martha was survived by her husband, and the third paragraph of the will of Peder Paulson devised the land in question in the following manner: ""Third: — I give, devise and bequeath to my son, William I. Paulson and Alpha Paulson, his wife, and to the survivor of them, during the term of their natural lives, the use, rents, issues and profits of the (description of real estate) during which period they are to pay all taxes levied on said real estate, and make all necessary repairs thereon, and shall not encumber, sell or convey their interest therein or any part thereof, and any and all mortgages, liens or conveyances that should be made by them, or either of them, shall be absolutely void and of no effect, and after the death of the said William I. Paulson and Alpha Paulson, his wife, and the survivor of them I give and devise said real estate in this paragraph described to the children born of the bodies of the said William Paulson and Alpha Paulson, or either of them, provided however, that in case any of such child or children so born should be dead at the time of the death of the survivor of the said William I. Paulson and Alpha Paulson, leaving children surviving them, then and in that event such children shall take the share that their deceased parent would have taken if such deceased parent had outlived the said William Paulson and Alpha Paulson.""