Bullis v. DuPage Trust Co.

391 N.E.2d 227, 72 Ill. App. 3d 927, 29 Ill. Dec. 68, 1979 Ill. App. LEXIS 2717
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 14, 1979
Docket78-236
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 391 N.E.2d 227 (Bullis v. DuPage Trust Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bullis v. DuPage Trust Co., 391 N.E.2d 227, 72 Ill. App. 3d 927, 29 Ill. Dec. 68, 1979 Ill. App. LEXIS 2717 (Ill. Ct. App. 1979).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE SEIDENFELD

delivered the opinion of the court:

Craig M. Bullís, the son of Roselyn Ann Bullís, deceased, sued for a construction of the trust provisions under the decedent’s will and for an accounting from the DuPage Trust Company, the trustee. The trial court dismissed plaintiff’s complaint and he appeals.

The dispute involves the interpretation of Article Four of the will which provides:

“ARTICLE FOUR
All the rest of my estate, real and personal, wherever located (referred to in this article as the ‘trust property’), including all lapsed legacies and devises, but expressly excluding any property over which I now or hereafter may have power or [sic] appointment, I give and devise to the Du PAGE TRUST COMPANY of Glen Ellyn, Illinois (a Banking Corporation with Trust Powers), as trustee, subject to the following trusts:
4. 1. Commencing at my death and during the life of my husband, MAURICE OTTO BULLIS, the trustee shall pay to him the income from the trust property, and in addition to income the trustee may pay from time to time to my husband such amounts from the principal of the trust property as the trustee considers necessary or desirable for his comfortable maintenance, medical care and welfare, taking into consideration the income and cash resources known to the trustee to be available to my husband from other sources, including the trust created by Article Three.
4. 2. Upon the death of my husband, MAURICE OTTO BULLIS, or upon my death, if he predeceases me, the Trustee shall set TRUST “B”, as then constituted, aside for the benefit of our son, CRAIG MARSHALL BULLIS, as follows:
a. While CRAIG is under 25 years of age, the Trustee shall use for CRAIG’S benefit, so much of the income of the Trust, as the Trustee determines to be required, in addition to his other income from all sources known to the Trustee, for his reasonable support, comfort and education, adding any excess income to the principal at the discretion of the Trustee. After CRAIG reaches that age, the Trustee shall pay all the current net income of his Trust to CRAIG in convenient installments, at least as often as quarter-annually.
b. Our son, CRAIG, is to receive twenty-five percent (25%) of my residuary Estate upon his twenty-fifth (25th) birthday, another twenty-five percent (25%) of my residuary Estate upon his thirtieth (30th) birthday, and the balance of the Estate on his thirty-fifth (35th) birthday.
c. If my son, CRAIG, should die before reaching his majority (21st birthday) and my husband, MAURICE, should predecease me, I direct that that share of the residuary Estate provided for herein for MAURICE and CRAIG shall be divided, share and share alike, between my sister, CLAUDIA WATERS, and my brother, WARREN A. RUXTON, or their heirs.
d. If my husband, MAURICE, should predecease me and my son, CRAIG, should die after reaching his twenty-first (21st) birthday and having been married and having had children born of the marriage, I direct that my Trustee give my residuary Estate to CRAIG’S children in portions and shares, such as will take care of their education, maintenance, and support during their lifetime, until each child has reached his twenty-first (21st) birthday, on which date each child will be given his proportionate share of the residuary Estate.” (Emphasis added.)

Only the quoted portion of the will was offered in evidence and the entire will is not before us. The parties here have conceded that it is in the “usual” form setting up two marital trusts (Trust A and Trust B). The construction turns principally on the meaning of the underlined section 4.2.b.

In count I of his complaint Craig Bullís, then age 31, set forth the provisions of Article F our and claimed they were ambiguous. He further argued that in order to resolve the ambiguity it was necessary to receive extrinsic evidence bearing on the question of his mother’s intention at the time she made her will. He also prayed for an interpretation of Article Four that would accelerate the transfer of the principal of the trust from the trustee to himself: on reaching his 25th birthday, 25 percent of the principal, 50 percent upon reaching the age of 30; and the entire principal of the trust when he reached the age of 35, even if his father continued to live and be completely dependent upon the income of the trust. In effect, Craig Bullís took the position that his father was not a life beneficiary but rather a beneficiary for years.

In count II of the complaint Craig Bullís sought an accounting from the trustee.

The trust company filed a motion to strike and dismiss alleging that the complaint did not state a cause of action for construction and that no accounting was due to the plaintiff as a remainderman; and in addition that the accounting sought, in fact, involved it in its capacity as executor and not as trustee. The trial judge granted the motion to dismiss both counts which resulted in this appeal.

We conclude that the trial court did not err in dismissing count I and refusing thereby to construe Article Four of the will.

Courts will refuse to construe a will which is neither ambiguous nor uncertain based merely on an allegation that construction is required when the record shows otherwise. (Peck v. Drennan (1951), 411 Ill. 31, 36. See also In re Estate of Blansett (1975), 28 Ill. App. 3d 552, 554.) It is also well established that in construing a will the intention of the testator controls, which if it can be determined from the words used will be carried into effect unless contrary to public policy or a fixed rule of law. (Rosenthal v. First National Bank (1968), 40 Ill. 2d 266, 276.) Further, “[t]he intention of the testator is to be ascertained by examining the entire will and by giving to the words employed their plain and ordinary meanings.” (Feder v. Luster (1973), 54 Ill. 2d 6, 11.) Although, because of the record made by the plaintiff, we do not have the entire will to construe, it is possible to construe the intent of the testator from the plain language used in Article Four.

The introductory portion of the article provides for the transfer of the residue after what has been conceded as a prior Trust A has been funded. Subparagraph 4.1 clearly states that the trustee is to turn over the income generated by Trust B to Maurice Otto Bullís, Mrs. Bullís’ husband, “commencing at my death and during the life of my husband,” thereby clearly making Maurice Otto Bullís a life beneficiary.

Section 4.2 begins with the words “Upon the death of my husband, Maurice Otto Bullís, or upon my death, if he predeceases me ” ° This clearly indicates that the four modes of disposing of the principal of the trust set forth in section 4.2, subsections, a, b, c and d, are to come into play only upon the death of Maurice Bullís or upon the death of the testator if Maurice Bullís had predeceased her.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
391 N.E.2d 227, 72 Ill. App. 3d 927, 29 Ill. Dec. 68, 1979 Ill. App. LEXIS 2717, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bullis-v-dupage-trust-co-illappct-1979.