## Facts

- George L. Simpson died in 1907, survived by his wife, Virginia Simpson, and two sons, George Robbins Simpson and French Cameron Simpson.
- George’s will gave Virginia the family home and directed that each son receive $10,000 upon reaching age 25.
- The will gave the residue of George’s estate to Virginia unless she remarried; if she remarried, the residue would be divided equally between the two sons.
- Robbins died intestate and unmarried in 1934.
- French died testate in 1940, leaving his entire estate to his widow, Paulette Louise B. Dickson.
- Virginia never remarried and died in 1944.
- Virginia’s will made specific bequests, created a trust, and left her residuary estate to Alexandria Hospital, Inc. after the trust’s termination.
- Dickson claimed that George’s residuary clause gave Virginia only a limited estate and that French had a transmissible interest in one-half of George’s residuary estate, which passed to Dickson under French’s will.
- The executor and hospital refused to distribute any portion of George’s residuary estate to Dickson.

## Issues

1. Whether George’s will gave Virginia a life estate (or other limited estate) in the residuary property with a remainder (vested or contingent) in the sons.
2. Whether, instead, the will gave Virginia a defeasible fee simple that became absolute when she died without remarrying, permitting her to dispose of the property by will.

## Decision

- The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal for failure to state a claim.
- The court held that the residuary clause granted Virginia a defeasible fee simple subject to divestment only upon her remarriage.
- Because Virginia did not remarry, her defeasible fee simple became an absolute fee simple at her death.
- As a result, the sons (and Dickson through French) took nothing under the remarriage gift-over clause, and Virginia could pass the property under her will to Alexandria Hospital.

## Legal Principles

- A will is construed to effectuate the testator’s intent as gathered from the instrument as a whole.
- A gift of property to a spouse “so long as she remains my widow,” coupled with a gift over upon remarriage, may be construed as a fee simple subject to a condition subsequent (a defeasible fee), not necessarily a life estate with remainder.
- Under Virginia law, a fee simple may be created without technical words of inheritance when the will shows an intent to dispose of the entire interest.
- A beneficiary named only to take upon the occurrence of a condition (here, remarriage) acquires no right to the property if the condition never occurs.

## Conclusion

The court construed the residuary clause as giving the widow a fee simple defeasible only upon remarriage; because she never remarried, her title became absolute and her devise to Alexandria Hospital controlled, leaving the decedent’s son’s widow with no claim to the residuary estate.


Dickson v. Alexandria Hosp., Inc., 177 F.2d 876 (4th Cir. 1949)