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In re Estate of Seader9/23/2003
rst rule of statutory construction is that legislative intent, not a court's perception of fairness, controls. State Dept. of Revenue and Taxation v. Pacificorp, 872 P.2d 1163, 1166 (Wyo. 1994); Olheiser v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Compensation Div., 866 P.2d 768, 770 (Wyo. 1994). It is not the court's prerogative to usurp the power of the legislature by deciding what should have been said. Barber v. State Highway Commission, 80 Wyo. 340, 342 P.2d 723, 725 (1959). The courts must follow, and cannot extend, statutory definitions. State v. Weeden, 17 Wyo. 418, 100 P. 114, 115 (1909). For over a century, Wyoming courts have recognized that it is their duty only to interpret and declare what the law is, not to be responsible for its defects. Hamilton v. Territory of Wyoming, 1 Wyo. 131, 135 (1873). And of specific importance to the instant case is the precept that exceptions not made by the legislature in a statute cannot be read into it. State ex rel. Peterson v. Ellsworth, 59 Wyo. 288, 139 P.2d 744, 748 (1943). Courts should be particularly chary of applying equity to negate statutory intent. Equity "arose in response to the restrictive and inflexible rules of the common law, and not as a means of avoiding legislation that courts deemed unwise or inadequate." Lankford, 489 S.E.2d at 608 (Mitchell, C.J., dissenting).
A court of equity has no more right than has a court of law to act on its own notion of what is right in a particular case; it must be guided by the established rules and precedents.
Where rights are defined and established by existing legal principles, they may not be changed or unsettled in equity. A court of equity is thus bound by any explicit statute or directly applicable rule of law, regardless of its views of the equities.
Id. ( quoting 27A Am.Jur.2d, Equity § 109 (1994)).
Kim and Kirk oversimplify the task presented to this Court. They argue, correctly, that the question is whether their mother should be considered Neil's adopted daughter for purposes of the anti-lapse statute. But they incorrectly characterize that statute as allowing the "children" of a predeceased "family member" to take the share of an estate that was bequeathed to the deceased family member under a will, but denying such treatment to "non-family members." If that were the question, we would only have to determine whether Julie was a "family member." But the statutory construct is much more compleX than that.
Neil left the residuary portion of his estate to Julie, Neil J., and Charles. Julie died before Neil did. As applied to the facts of this case, Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 2-6-107(b) provides that, if Julie's residuary devise lapsed, then the entire residue is to be divided equally between Neil J. and Charles. Whether or not the devise to Julie lapsed depends on Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 2-6-106, which provides, in effect, that if Julie is a lineal descendent of Neil's grandparent, the residuary devise to her did not lapse, and her share will go to Kim and Kirk. The question is whether the legislature intended that result.
The phrase "lineal descendent" is not defined in the statute. The word "lineal" connotes "a direct blood relative," and "lineal descent" indicates " escent in a direct or straight line, as from father or grandfather to son or grandson." Black's Law Dictionary 456, 941 (7th ed. 1999). "Lineal descent" is contrasted with "collateral descent," which refers to "descent in a collateral or oblique line, from brother to brother or cousin to cousin." Id. at 456. "With collateral descent, the donor and donee are related through a common ancestor." Id.
The problem in the instant case, of course, is not that Julie was Neil's coll
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