Canoy v. Canoy
North Carolina Court of Appeals
355 S.E.2d 175 (N.C. Ct. App. 1987)
Myrtle Canoy's will left her farm to her son Roger (plaintiff) for life, with the remainder passing "at his death, in ten equal shares to my ten children, and for any that are deceased, to their issue, if any"; all ten children, including Roger, survived Myrtle's death. Roger brought a declaratory judgment action to interpret the will, and the trial court found Roger held a life estate with only the siblings who survived him entitled to take a remainder share; Roger and the guardian ad litem for unborn heirs appealed, arguing the remainders vested at Myrtle's death and didn't require surviving Roger.
Whether a will's remainder interest, granted to a class of beneficiaries with a substitute gift to their issue if a beneficiary is deceased at a life tenant's death, creates a contingent remainder requiring survival of the life tenant, or a remainder that vested immediately at the testator's death.