Boatmen's National Bank of St. Louis v. Just

618 S.W.2d 208, 1981 Mo. App. LEXIS 2831
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 12, 1981
DocketNos. 42781, 42782
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 618 S.W.2d 208 (Boatmen's National Bank of St. Louis v. Just) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boatmen's National Bank of St. Louis v. Just, 618 S.W.2d 208, 1981 Mo. App. LEXIS 2831 (Mo. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

GUNN, Judge.

In this will construction case, the trial court ruled that the appellants, descendants of the testator, had been disinherited. The two fundamental points raised on appeal are: that any language of intent to disinherit was totally enervated by appearing only in inoperative provisions of the will; that disinheritance of an heir does not serve to disinherit the heir’s descendants. We affirm.

The dramatis personae is a prolix maze due to the number and similarity of names, making a clear statement of facts a difficult task. We scorecard the cast of parties as follows:

Cornelius A. Just —The testator of the will and trust serving as the subject of this litigation.
Adele C. Just —Cornelius Just’s wife.
Milton H. Just —Cornelius Just’s son.
Quentin A. Just —Cornelius Just’s son.
Kathleen H. Just —Quentin A. Just’s fourth wife and respondent in the litigation.
Judy May Just —Daughter of Quentin A. Just and his third wife and respondent in the litigation.
Gustav Bisehoff Just —Son of Quentin A. Just and his first wife and grandson of the testator and appellant in the litigation.
Quentin Gustav Just —Son of Gustav Bisehoff Just and great-grandson of the testator, also an appellant in the litigation.

In the beginning, Cornelius A. Just, the testator, executed his will dated August 19, 1954. He died April 3, 1956. His will was admitted to probate, and this suit was ultimately instituted by a trustee of a testamentary trust seeking its construction.

Cornelius A. Just, the testator, was survived by his wife Adele C. Just and his two sons Milton H. Just and Quentin A. Just. Under the will, Adele received outright one-half of the estate; Milton received one-fourth outright; the remaining one-fourth was placed in trust from which Quentin A. was to receive the income for life.

Adele and Milton predeceased Quentin A., with Milton leaving no surviving descendants. Quentin A. died on October 26, 1978 and was survived by: his fourth wife, Kathleen H. Just, a respondent; Judy May Just, daughter of Quentin A. and his third wife, a respondent; Gustav Bisehoff Just, son of Quentin A. and his first wife, an appellant; [210]*210Quentin Gustav Just, son of Gustav Bis-choff Just and grandson of Quentin A., also an appellant. Each survivor of Quentin A. was made a party defendant to the litigation with unknown and unborn heirs-at-law of Quentin A. Just or of his descendants and the unknown and unborn descendants of Gustav Bisehoff Just or of Judy May Just.

The litigation revolves around the proper disposition of the corpus of the testamentary trust upon the death of Quentin A. Just, the trust’s income beneficiary.

We turn now to the source of the controversy, the will itself, and whether its provisions serve to disinherit the appellants Gustav Bisehoff Just and Quentin Bisehoff Just, son and grandson of Quentin A.

In Item VI, § 1, par. (e) of his will the testator Cornelius Just provided for division of the trust property upon the death of Quentin A. into equal shares as follows: “One (1) such share for his surviving spouse, if any; one (1) such share for each child of my said son then living, and one (1) such share for the descendants then living, per stirpes, (except GUSTAV BISCHOFF) of any deceased child of my said son.” Item VI, § 1, par. (e) provides further that the share of Quentin A. Just’s surviving spouse is to be placed in trust and the income paid to her until her death or remarriage. Upon either event, her trust terminates, and the trust property is to be delivered equally “to the living children of my said son [Quentin A.] and the living descendants, per stirpes of any deceased child, free of trust, subject to the provisions of Par. (f) below, but if there be no such living children or other descendants, then to the heirs-at-law of my said son related by blood to me.”

Other portions of the will containing language that is potentially relevant to the proper construction of paragraph (e), supra, are paragraphs (d) and (f) of Item IV, § 1. In paragraph (d) the testator disposed of son Milton’s share of the estate, in the event that Milton predeceased him. If Milton died without issue, his share would be added to the Quentin A. Just trust, provided Quentin A. was living, “otherwise to his descendants, per stirpes, (except GUSTAV BISCHOFF, who is amply provided for and for whom I make no provision in this Will) subject to the provisions of Par. (f) below.”

In paragraph (f) of Item VI, § 1, the testator provided that “If any child or other descendant of any son of mine shall become entitled to a share in my estate under the aforesaid provisions,” each share must go directly to the descendant if he or she is over 35 years of age; if not, the share must be held in trust until the descendant attains age 35. If the descendant dies prior to receiving his or her share free of trust “then such share shall be distributed, free of trust, among the then living heirs-at-law of such deceased descendant related by blood to me. The word ‘descendant’ as used in this Paragraph, and in any part of this Will, shall not include GUSTAV BIS-CHOFF, for the reasons I have heretofore stated.” At the time of Quentin A. Just’s death, both his children, Judy May Just and Gustav Bisehoff Just, were over 35 years of age, his grandson Quentin Gustav Just was 16.

Motions for summary judgment were granted in favor of respondents Judy May Just and Kathleen H. Just as the surviving daughter and wife, respectively, of the testator’s son, Quentin A. Just. Appellants Gustav Bisehoff Just and Quentin Gustav Just with all other descendants of Gustav were found to have no interest in the estate of the testator under his will.

Appellant Gustav Bisehoff Just asserts that the proper disposition of the corpus of the Quentin A. Just trust must allocate one-third to him absolutely, one-third to Judy May Just absolutely, and one-third in trust for Kathleen Just. Upon Kathleen’s death or remarriage, one-half of her trust must be distributed to Judy May Just or her descendants and one-half to Gustav Bis-choff Just or his descendants, including appellant Quentin Gustav Just. Gustav declares his right to a share in each of said trusts as a living son of Quentin A. Just, citing the testator’s provision that, upon the death of Quentin A. Just, one share of his [211]*211trust must be distributed to “each child of my said son [Quentin A. Just] then living” and that, upon the death or remarriage of Kathleen, her trust is to be distributed “to the living children of my said son [Quentin A. Just].” [Item VI, § 1, par. (e).] Gustav discounts any evidence of testator intent to disinherit him on the ground that a void or inoperative provision can not control the construction of the remainder of the will, and the sole evidence of intent to disinherit him is located in two provisions that are inoperative because they relate to contingencies that failed to transpire — the death of Milton prior to testator [Item VI, § 1, par. (d)] and the death of a descendant prior to the age of 35, thereby disqualifying him or her from an outright share in the estate. [Item VI, § 1, par. (f)].

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Centerre Trust Co. of St. Louis v. United States
676 F. Supp. 928 (E.D. Missouri, 1988)
Estate of Heisserer v. Loos
698 S.W.2d 6 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1985)
Estate of Pettit v. Levine
657 S.W.2d 636 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1983)
American Cancer Society, St. Louis Division v. Hammerstein
631 S.W.2d 858 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1981)
AMERICAN CANCER SOC., ETC. v. Hammerstein
631 S.W.2d 858 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1981)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
618 S.W.2d 208, 1981 Mo. App. LEXIS 2831, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boatmens-national-bank-of-st-louis-v-just-moctapp-1981.