Baker v. First National Bank

448 P.2d 435, 8 Ariz. App. 591, 1968 Ariz. App. LEXIS 598
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedDecember 17, 1968
Docket1 CA-CIV 566
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 448 P.2d 435 (Baker v. First National Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Baker v. First National Bank, 448 P.2d 435, 8 Ariz. App. 591, 1968 Ariz. App. LEXIS 598 (Ark. Ct. App. 1968).

Opinion

KRUCKER, Judge.

Appeal from an order of the Superior Court of Maricopa County which approved the Final Account and Petition for Discharge of the First National Bank of Arizona, trustee of a trust created by the terms of the Last Will and Testament of Charles V. Wills.

This appeal was directed to the construction of paragraphs XII of the aforesaid Will given by the trial court, and these paragraphs read as follows:

“XII. I give and bequeath two thousand (2,000) shares of the total number of shares of common stock in the PHELPS DODGE CORPORATION that I own at the time of my death to. my Trustee, hereinafter named, IN TRUST NEVERTHELESS, to and for the uses and purposes following:
(a) To pay over to my wife, ANNA D. WILLS, in satisfaction of the fur *593 ther provision found at numbered paragraph 1, page 2, of said PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT, the sum of FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY ($450.00) DOLLARS per month from the income of said trust, during her lifetime, the first payment to be made as soon as said trust has been established, and in an amount at least equal to FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY ($450.00) DOLLARS times the number of months since my death, less any amounts paid to my wife as a widow’s allowance under order of court, as provided in numbered paragraph 8, page 4, of said PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT.
(b) To use so much of the corpus of said trust as may be necessary to make said monthly payments; and to pay over to my wife, ANNA D. WILLS, such additional amounts as it shall deem proper and just in the event of sickness, hospitalization, or other incapacity of my wife, and to use any part of the principal of this trust for such purposes, or for any other emergencies pertaining to her health and care that might arise.”
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Anna D. Wills was in a poor state of health at the time her husband’s will was made, and she was placed in a nursing home shortly before his death in January, 1964. In February, 1964, appellant was appointed guardian to Mrs. Wills, and from that time until July of 1965, guardian incurred approximately $8,300 in expenses connected with medical treatments for Mrs. Wills. In July of 1965, the guardian made a request upon the trustee, requesting that the trustee reimburse the guardian for the medical expenses. The trustee declined this request.

The medical expenses for the care of Mrs. Wills continued, and in November, 1965, the guardian again requested reimbursement from the trustee in the amount of approximately $2,000 which had been expended by the guardian since July, 1965 in providing medical care for Mrs. Wills. The trustee complied in part with this request, paying a portion of the demand.

An additional demand was made upon the trustee in the amount of $225, and this was paid by the trustee in December of 1965. On December 29, 1965, Mrs. Wills died.

The death of Mrs. Wills was the event which terminated the trust created under the Last Will and Testament of her husband, and on March 16, 1966, the trustee filed its final account and petition for distribution. This petition was contested by the guardian, and on November 7, 1966, the final account was approved as rendered and the petition for distribution was granted.

The guardian has appealed from the decree approving the final account and ordering distribution of the assets, claiming that the estate of Mrs. Wills was entitled to reimbursement from the trustee for all sums expended in the procurement of medical care for Mrs. Wills during her lifetime. The total requests made by the guardian upon the trustee for these medical expenses amounted to $10,495.57, and the total amount paid'by the trustee pursuant to these requests was $1,081.25. During the period of trusteeship the guardian was paid a total of $10,605.00 in monthly payments of $450, in addition to the payments made by the trustee for medical expenses.

The guardian’s claim is for $9,414.32, the difference between its expenditures for medical care for Mrs. Wills and the amount by which it was reimbursed by the trustee.

It is the guardian’s position that the above-quoted portion of the trust instrument obliged the trustee to pay all of Mrs. Wills’ medical expenses which arose after the trust became effective, so long as these expenses were reasonably necessary for her health, and that the trustee abused its discretion in declining to reimburse the guardian for these expenses in that the trustee considered the fact that the' guardianship estate had sufficient liquid assets to pay for these expenses itself.

In seeking to affirm the decree of the trial court, it is the position of the trustee *594 that its refusal to pay these expenses was in the proper exercise of its discretion, and as a further reason for affirmance, the trustee suggests that the trial court could have ruled in its favor below for the reason that the guardian had no standing to object to the final account and the petition for distribution.

To counter the latter theory, the guardian, who is as well the administrator of the estate of Mrs. Wills, has petitioned this court to permit a substitution of the administrator for the guardian. This petition was submitted subsequent to oral argument in this proceeding, and it has been vigorously opposed by appellee.

While the propriety of such a petition at this stage of the proceedings may well be questioned, we do not find it necessary to pass on the matter in this case. Even if the petition were to be granted, we are of the opinion that the decree of the trial court should be affirmed on the substantive issues raised in this appeal.

Mr. and Mrs. Wills were married late in life, and each of them had children by prior marriages. The remainder under the trust created by the will of Mr. Wills was designated to his heirs; the estate of Mrs. Wills was not to accrue to the benefit of Mr. Wills’ heirs. The prenuptial agreement between Mr. and Mrs. Wills provided that if Mr. Wills pre-deceased his wife, she was to have from his estate a monthly sum in the amount of $300; the trust instead provided that Mrs. Wills should receive a monthly payment of $450. At the time his will was drawn, Mr. Wills was well aware of the problems that his wife was having and would continue to have in relation to her health.

In the construction of the will, the paramount consideration is that the intent of the testator be determined, and, if possible, made effective. First National Bank of Arizona v. Taylor, 5 Ariz.App. 422, 427 P.2d 556 (1967). Determination of the testator’s intent is to be made upon a consideration of the instrument as a whole, and, when necessary or appropriate, the circumstances under which the will was executed. Newhall v. McGill, 69 Ariz. 259, 212 P.2d 764 (1949); In re Estate of Gardiner, 5 Ariz.App. 239, 425 P.2d 427 (1967).

Here the will provided that a monthly sum of $450 was to paid to Mrs. Wills, and the trustee was:

“ * * * to pay over to my wife, ANNA D.

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Bluebook (online)
448 P.2d 435, 8 Ariz. App. 591, 1968 Ariz. App. LEXIS 598, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/baker-v-first-national-bank-arizctapp-1968.