Docket No. 2485: Amelia Macdona

Docket No. 2485.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
on behalf of
Guaranty Trust Company of New York, Executor under the Last Will and Testament of Amelia Macdona, Deceased,
Claimant,

v.

GERMANY.

PARKER, Umpire, rendered the decision of the Commission.

This case is before the Umpire for decision on a certificate of the two National Commissioners[a] certifying their disagreement.

Amelia Macdona, a widow without issue, 59 years of age, was lost on the Lusitania. She was born a subject of Great Britain; had been twice married, the second time on July 22, 1908, to Henry D. Macdona, an American national, who died several years prior to the sinking of the Lusitania. Mrs. Macdona left no blood relatives but was survived by Henry Russell Macdona and Henry Harding Macdona, both American nationals, a son and a grandson respectively of her deceased husband.

Amelia Macdona left a will naming the Guaranty Trust Company of New York, of the city of New York, as executor and testamentary trustee of her estate, which seems to have been substantial. That estate was divided into three parts. One-third was bequeathed to John B. Coleman, an American national, formerly associated with her second husband in the practice of law; a life interest in one-third was bequeathed to her brother-in-law, George Macdona, an American national, with the remainder to Henry Harding Macdona, son of her stepson; and a life interest in the remaining one-third was bequeathed to Henry Russell Macdona, with remainder to his son, Henry Harding Macdona.

The deceased was a woman of culture and refinement who lived comfortably from the income of her investments. The statement is made that from time to time she made contributions to the support of her stepson, who was 30 years of age at the time of her death. No effort has been made to estimate the amount of such contributions, but it is stated that they “were not made with any great regularity or frequency, and were not of very large amounts”. The record fails to disclose any earning power on the part of the decedent. The beneficiaries under her will obviously realized more from her bequests than they could reasonably have expected in the form of contributions from her had she lived.

No claim is made for personal property belonging to the deceased which was lost with her.

This claim is put forward on behalf of Guaranty Trust Company as executor of the estate of the decedent “for the benefit of the beneficiaries under her last will and testament”. So far as disclosed by the record herein neither the executor nor any of the beneficiaries under the last will and testament of the decedent has suffered any damages from her death as measured by pecuniary standards.

Applying the rules announced in the Lusitania Opinion and in the other decisions of this Commission to the facts as disclosed by the record, the Commission decrees that under the Treaty of Berlin of August 25, 1921, and in accordance with its terms the Government of Germany is not obligated to pay to the Government of the United States any amount on behalf of the claimant herein.

Done at Washington January 14, 1925.

EDWIN B. PARKER,
Umpire.

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[a] Dated January 8, 1925.