White v. Brown

Facts

Jessie Lide, a widow with no children, died on February 15, 1973, at age 88. She left a handwritten (holographic) will dated April 19, 1972. It named her niece, Sandra White Perry, as executrix (the person who carries out the will). It said she wished Evelyn White "to have my home to live in and not to be sold." It left her personal property to Sandra and added, "My house is not to be sold." The will did not say who would take the house after Mrs. White. Mrs. White, her husband (the testatrix's brother) and her daughter Sandra had lived with Mrs. Lide as a family for some twenty-five years. Mrs. White stayed with Mrs. Lide after her husband died in 1971. Of Mrs. Lide's nine brothers and sisters, only two sisters in Ohio survived her, and they quitclaimed (released) any interest they might have in the house to Mrs. White. The testatrix's heirs at law, her nieces and nephews, were the defendants. They argued the will gave Mrs. White only a life estate (a right to the home for her lifetime), so the remainder (what is left after she dies) would pass to them by intestate succession (the rules for property a will does not dispose of). Mrs. White argued she took the home in fee simple (full ownership).

Issues

1. Does a will that gives a woman the testatrix's home "to live in" give her a life estate or a fee simple, when the will has no gift over of the remainder?
2. Does the will's statement that the house is "not to be sold" clearly show an intent to give only a life estate, or is it a void restraint on a fee simple?

Holding

Mrs. Lide's will passed a fee simple absolute in the home to Mrs. White. The words "not to be sold" did not show an intent to give only a life estate clearly enough to overcome the law's strong presumption of a fee. The attempted restraint on alienation was void as inconsistent with the estate devised and contrary to public policy.