§ 1825. Recording Foreign Wills or Copies Thereof Notice Statute "Whenever any will, testament or codicil which has been made, executed and published out of this State, or authenticated copies thereof, or exemplifications from the records shall have recorded or admitted to probate in any county in this State in which the testator may have been seized of lands or other real estate or in which his personal estate or a part thereof is situated, in accordance with the provisions of section 9 or 10 of this act, such record or such probate shall be notice from the date of such record or such admitting to probate."" The provisions of Section 33 of the Conveyance Act providing for the recording of wills probated in a foreign State in the office of the Recorder of Deeds do not operate to convey title to a devisee named in the will, but only operates as notice from the date of filing the same for record as in other cases. The object of section 33 was merely to charge parties with constructive notice of the contents of the will.6 § 1826. Copy of Foreign Will Admitted to Probate on Petition Statute "When a copy of the will and the probate thereof, duly authenticated, shall be presented by the executor or by any other person interested in the will, with a petition for probate, the same shall be filed and a time must be appointed for a hearing thereon and such notice must be given as required by law on a petition for the original probate of a domestic will." "If upon the hearing it appears to the satisfaction of the court that the will has been duly proved, allowed and admitted to probate outside of this State, and that it was executed according to the laws of the place in which the same was made, or in which the testator was at the time domiciled, or in conformity with the laws of this State, it must be admitted to probate, which probate shall have the 5-Sec. 10a, Laws 1919, p. 993. 6-Barnett v. Barnett, 284 Ill. 580. same force and effect as the original probate of a domestic will.'' 7 § 1827. Copy of Will from States Not Requiring Probate of Wills Statute "When a duly authenticated copy of a will from any state or country where probate is not required by the laws of such state or country, with a duly authenticated certificate of the legal custodian of such original will that the same is a true copy, and that such will has become operative by the laws of such state or country, and when a copy of a notarial will in possession of a notary in a foreign state or country entitled to the custody thereof (the laws of which state or country require that such will remain in the custody of such notary), duly authenticated by such notary, is presented by the executor or other person interested to the proper court in this State, such court shall appoint a time and place of hearing and notice thereof shall be given as in cases of an original will presented for probate. "If it appear to the court that the instrument ought to be allowed in this State, as the last will and testament of the deceased, the copy shall be filed and recorded, and the will shall have the same effect as if originally proved and allowed in said court."' 8 § 1828. Titles Acquired Under Recorded Foreign Wills Validated Statute "In all cases where wills, testaments, codicils or authenticated copies thereof, or exemplifications from the records thereof, proven according to the laws of any of the United States, or territories thereof, or of any foreign country, and touching or concerning estates within this State accompanied with the certificate of the proper officer or officers that said will, testament, codicil or copy thereof was duly executed and proved agreeably to the laws and usages of that state, territory or country in which the same was executed shall have been filed for record before the taking effect of this act, in the office of the re8-Sec. 4, Laws 1917, p. 801. 7-Sec. 3, Laws 1917, p. 801. corder of deeds of the county in this State in which the testator shall have been seized of lands or other real estate, or in which his personal estate or a part thereof shall lie, such recordations shall be and the same are hereby declared to be legal and valid and all titles passed and acquired under the terms of such wills, testaments or codicils shall be and the same are hereby validated and given the same force and effect in law and in equity as if such wills, testaments and codicils had been recorded in accordance with the provisions of this Act, in the office of the county or probate clerk, as the case may be, of the proper county." § 1829. Administration of Estates of Non-Residents—If a non-resident of Illinois dies testate leaving property in this State, a relative of such deceased residing in Illinois is entitled to nominate a resident of Illinois to administer the estate under letters of administration with the will annexed as against the public administrator of the county where there is property of the deceased.10 § 1830. Construction of Wills-Rules Considered-All rules of construction are simply means to a given end, being those methods of reasoning which experience has taught are best calculated to lead to the intention, and generally no rule will be adopted which leads to the defeat of the intention. So, whatever may have been the earlier doctrine, it is now thoroughly settled that technical rules of construction are not favored and must not be applied so as to defeat the intention. In modern times the more sensible rule obtains, in all cases, to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the parties as gathered from the entire instrument together with the surrounding circumstances, unless such intention is in conflict with some unbending canon of construction or settled rule of property or is repugnant to the terms of the grant. All parts of the deed must be construed and harmonized, if possible.11 11-Anderson v. Stewart, 285 Ill. 9-Sec. 10b, Laws 1919, p. 993. 605. § 1831. Little Benefit Derived from Adjudicated Cases in Construing Wills-It has been remarked that a court derives but little assistance in determining the meaning to be given to various terms and expressions used in wills from the examination of adjudged cases. No two wills are prepared alike, and the conditions which surround one testator differ so widely from those which surround another that the conclusion reached in one instance is rarely of great service as a guide in another.12 § 1832. Intention of Testator to Be Ascertained— Subject to the exception of the rule in Shelley's case the principle is firmly established and universally recognized that a will should be so constructed as to effectuate the intention of the testator as far as possible, and, in case of doubt, the scope of the instrument should be considered, and its various provisions compared, one with another, in ascertaining such intention. Under its influence, the express words of a will must sometimes yield to the manifest intention of the testator; and even words will be added where it is necessary to effectuate such intention. But courts, under the pretense of construction, have no right either to reject or supply words, except where it is absolutely necessary to avoid an absurdity or give effect to the manifest intention of the testator; for courts have no right to make a will either by rejecting some of its provisions or by adding new ones nor by placing upon its provisions an arbitrary construction. The general rule is, that, where it can possibly be done, a will should be so construed as to give effect and operation to every word and provision of it.13 Technical rules should not be permitted to defeat the intention of the testator. In interpreting wills those rules should be followed that are most in harmony with the genius and laws of the country and the manners and customs of its 12-Bergman v. Arnhold, 242 Ill. 218. 13-Welsch v. Belleville S. Bank, 94 Ill. 191. people. Those rules should be followed that would effectually do justice, and not by such as would give an arbitrary and technical meaning to words never understood or contemplated by the testator.14 The intention of a testator which is to be sought for is not that which may have existed in the mind of the testator not expressed in his will, but that which is so expressed. In seeking the intention of the testator it is always presumed that he intended by his will to dispose of all his property and to leave no part of it intestate estate, and this presumption is so strong that the court will accept any reasonable construction of the will rather than hold the testator intended to die intestate as to any of his property. Where a testator in disposing of his property overlooks a particular event, which, had it occurred to him, he would have in all probability provided against, the court will not supply a provision by intendment, on a presumption of what the testator would naturally have done.1 15 § 1833. Nature of Estate Devised-Policy of Law to Invest a Fee-It is the policy of the law, as announced by section 13 of the Conveyance Act, and by many decisions of the court, that every estate shall be deemed to be an estate in fee, unless a contrary intention is clearly expressed. Where a testator in his will employs language sufficient to pass a fee simple to the land, in the absence of the expression of a clear intention to cut down the fee to a life estate, an estate in fee simple will pass. The rule is, the intention of the testator, if clearly disclosed by the will, must prevail even though some words must be rejected to give effect to that intention.16 It is the disposition of courts to adopt such a construction as will give an estate of inheritance. If personal prop 14-Walker v. Walker, 283 Ill. 11. 15-Moeller v. Moeller, 281 Ill. 397. 16-Hemstead v. Hemstead, 285 Пl. 448. Citing: Bowen v. John, 201 Ill. 292; Rose v. Hale, 185 Пll. 378; Williamson v. Carnes, 284 Ill. 521. |