Amerige v. Attorney General

88 N.E.2d 126 (1949)

From our private database of 47,500+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Amerige v. Attorney General

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
88 N.E.2d 126 (1949)

Sean Carroll headshot
  • Written by Sean Carroll, JD

Facts

Timothy Leeds’s will left property in trust for his brother, James Leeds, for his life. The will stated that upon James’s death, the property would go to whomever James appointed by his will. James combined his property with that received from Timothy, and James’s will left that property in trust for his daughter, Mary Elizabeth Williams, for her life. James’s will stated that upon Mary’s death, the property would go to whomever Mary appointed by her will. Mary combined her property with that received from James, and Mary’s will left the residue of her estate in trust for her two children for their life and then to their issue. If the children did not have any surviving issue, the will stated that the residue was to go to certain charities. Mary was survived by her two children who were not living at the time of Timothy’s death. Upon Mary’s death, Mary’s trustees (plaintiffs) filed a petition to construe Mary’s will. The charities that Mary appointed under her will claimed that none of the property that Mary appointed in her will was derived from Timothy. They argued that the doctrine of selective allocation applied to James’s dispositions and that Timothy’s property was exhausted by such dispositions, leaving only James’s property to distribute.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Spalding, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 965,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 965,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 47,500 briefs, keyed to 1,006 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
  • AI-generated podcast version of every brief — listen on the go, between classes, or whenever reading isn’t an option. New

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 965,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 47,500 briefs - keyed to 1,006 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Wills, Trusts, and Estates

Key Terms

  • Rule against perpetuitiesA common law rule requiring all future interests to vest no later than twenty-one years after the life of a person who was living when the interests were created. Since future interests that violate the rule against perpetuities are void, some states have enacted statutes that qualify or supersede the common law rule.
  • Power of AppointmentThe right to choose who receives the future interest in a trust or property devised by will. A power of appointment may be general (i.e., no restrictions on the potential appointees) or special (i.e., a limited class of potential appointees) and may be exercisable during the holder’s lifetime or only as a testamentary power.
  • Doctrine of Selective AllocationProvides that if a holder of a power of appointment combines his own property with the property over which he holds the power of appointment, the appointive property is allocated to the powerholder’s dispositions in the manner that gives maximum effect to the dispositions.

Understand your casebook readings in seconds

Use our case briefs to comprehend your casebook readings faster, supplement your notes and outlines, and outshine your peers in class.

Get instant access to over 47,500+ expert-written case briefs in a searchable database keyed to 1,006 law school casebooks.

Case book preview
Start your free 7-day trial