Alter v. Zuckerman

585 So. 2d 303, 1991 WL 110880
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedSeptember 17, 1991
Docket89-2209
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 585 So. 2d 303 (Alter v. Zuckerman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alter v. Zuckerman, 585 So. 2d 303, 1991 WL 110880 (Fla. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

585 So.2d 303 (1991)

Jack ALTER, Individually and As Trustee, Appellant,
v.
Sharon ZUCKERMAN and Beverly Kanter, Appellees.

No. 89-2209.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

June 25, 1991.
On Motion for Rehearing September 17, 1991.

*304 Podhurst, Orseck, Josefsberg, Eaton, Meadow, Olin & Perwin and Joel Eaton, Miami, for appellant.

Steel, Hector, Davis, Burns & Middleton and Robert W. Goldman, West Palm Beach, for appellees.

Before HUBBART, COPE and LEVY, JJ.

COPE, Judge.

Jack Alter appeals an adverse summary final judgment. The judgment determined that an inter vivos trust created by the decedent, Celia Kahn, was ineffective to transfer the trust corpus to Alter on her demise. As a result, the trust assets were held to be part of Kahn's probate estate, and pass through the residuary clause of the will. We reverse.

I.

In 1977 and 1980, Kahn made two wills which left the majority of her assets to her nephew, Alter. In 1982 she executed a declaration of trust naming herself trustee of a brokerage account at Norstar Brokerage Corporation[1] for the use and benefit of Alter. The instrument was notarized, but did not contain the signature of a second witness.[2] Kahn opened a new brokerage account at Norstar in her name as trustee for the benefit of Alter. She transferred her stock holdings from her existing Norstar account to the new account. Under the terms of the declaration of trust, the trust corpus was to pass to the beneficiary, Alter, upon Kahn's demise.

In 1982 Kahn also opened a bank account at 1st Nationwide Bank naming herself as trustee for the benefit of Alter. The account title referenced a trust agreement dated June 11, 1982. Kahn placed funds in the bank account which were there at her demise.

In 1983, Kahn changed her will. Alter was named personal representative and devisee of Kahn's household goods and personal effects. The residue of the estate was left to appellees Sharon Zuckerman and Beverly Kanter, Kahn's nieces.

Kahn died in 1986. The residuary beneficiaries, Zuckerman and Kanter, petitioned for a determination that the declaration of trust was ineffective to transfer the trust assets to Alter (the trust beneficiary) upon the decedent's demise. Under that theory, the trust assets remained as part of Kahn's estate and passed under the will to the residuary beneficiaries. The residuary beneficiaries initially claimed entitlement to the Norstar account, and later, the 1st Nationwide account as well.

The residuary beneficiaries moved for summary judgment. Relying on the Florida Supreme Court's decision in Hanson v. Denckla, 100 So.2d 378 (Fla. 1956), reversed on other grounds, 357 U.S. 235, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283 (1958), they argued that the inter vivos trust could not transfer the trust assets upon Kahn's demise unless the trust instrument complied with the formalities required for the execution of wills. Those formalities require that a will be executed before two witnesses. It is undisputed that the declaration of trust was signed before one witness — the notary — but not two. Agreeing with that analysis, the court entered summary judgment in *305 favor of the residuary beneficiaries. The court ruled that no assets of the decedent were left in trust by the decedent and that her assets pass through probate in accordance with her last will and testament.

II.

We first consider the Norstar account. The declaration of trust recited that Kahn held the Norstar account in trust for Alter, as beneficiary. The instrument provided that upon Kahn's demise, the successor trustee would transfer all right, title, and interest in the account to the beneficiary absolutely and terminate the trust.[3] Under the terms of the declaration of trust, Kahn retained the right to exercise day-to-day control until her demise, or physical or mental incapacity, and also retained the right to amend or revoke the trust in whole or in part.

In Hanson v. Denckla, the Florida Supreme Court considered the effect of reservations of power by the settlor of a revocable inter vivos trust. 100 So.2d at 383-85. In Hanson the settlor had created an inter vivos trust. The trust instrument gave the settlor the trust income for life. Id. at 380. The settlor reserved the right to designate beneficiaries by the exercise of powers of appointment, as well as the right to amend or revoke the trust agreement at any time. Id. at 383. Although there was a corporate trustee, many of its powers could be exercised only upon the direction of the trust adviser, who was settlor's husband. Id. at 383.

Hanson was decided in 1956. Under the view expressed at that time by the first Restatement of Trusts, the reservation of over-much power in the hands of the settlor would render an inter vivos trust illusory. Section 57 of the first Restatement provided:

Where the settlor transfers property in trust and reserves not only a beneficial life estate and a power to revoke and modify the trust but also such power to control the trustee as to the details of the administration of the trust that the trustee is the agent of the settlor, the disposition so far as it is intended to take effect after his death is testamentary and is invalid unless the requirements of the statutes relating to the validity of wills are complied with.

Restatement of Trusts § 57 (1935) (emphasis added).

Following the first Restatement's approach, the Hanson court reasoned that the settlor's reservation of power had "divested the settlor of virtually none of her day-to-day control over the property or the power to dispose of it on her death, and the trust was illusory." 100 So.2d at 383-84 (citations omitted). This did not, however, signify that the actions of the settlor were entirely meaningless. The trust instrument was treated as having created a valid contractual relationship during the life of the settlor, id. at 382, which as described in the Restatement would be an agency relationship between settlor and trustee. Restatement of Trusts § 57. The death of the settlor would, however, revoke the agency. Those portions of the trust instrument purporting to transfer trust property upon the settlor's demise would be testamentary in nature. Id. Upon decedent's demise, the trust instrument would be ineffective to convey trust property "`unless the requirements of the statutes relating to the validity of wills are complied with.'" 100 So.2d at 384 (quoting Restatement of Trusts § 56). Since in Hanson the court concluded that the critical documents had not been executed in accordance with the formalities for wills, 100 So.2d at 382, no property passed by way of the trust. Id. at 385. The judgment was later reversed on jurisdictional grounds. Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283 (1958).[4]

In 1957 the Restatement (Second) of Trusts was adopted, which modified section 57 significantly. In criticizing the first Restatement, *306 and explaining the reason for the modification contained in Restatement (Second), Professor Scott explained:

The purpose of the Statute of Wills in requiring certain formalities is to prevent fraudulent claims.

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Related

Matter of Hernando Healthcare, Inc.
157 B.R. 701 (M.D. Florida, 1993)
Zuckerman v. Alter
615 So. 2d 661 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
585 So. 2d 303, 1991 WL 110880, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alter-v-zuckerman-fladistctapp-1991.