Carter's Estate

4 Pa. D. & C. 774, 1923 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 200
CourtPennsylvania Orphans' Court, Erie County
DecidedNovember 23, 1923
StatusPublished

This text of 4 Pa. D. & C. 774 (Carter's Estate) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Orphans' Court, Erie County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carter's Estate, 4 Pa. D. & C. 774, 1923 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 200 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1923).

Opinion

Clark, P. J.,

— Edward D. Carter made his will March 3, 1913, and a codicil July 21, 1916. He died Oct. 24, 1922. The will was duly probated and letters testamentary were issued to the Security Savings and Trust Company, appointed executor by the testator in his will, and the said company has been acting as such since.

Aug. 11, 1923, the executor filed a first and partial account, which came on for audit Oct. 22, 1923. The total assets were $566,089.32; the disbursements were $86,281.32, leaving a balance of $479,808.

Testator left surviving him his widow, Clara E. Carter; one child, a daughter Maude, who is the wife of Thomas S. Shannon, and one grandson, Edward Carter Shannon, who is the son of Maude and Thomas S. Shannon.

[775]*775A portion of the will is as follows:

“Second. I hereby direct the Executors named herein to keep my entire estate, real and personal, intact for a period of at least eight (8) years from the date of my death, except as hereinafter stipulated.
“Third. I hereby direct that my Executors shall collect the insurance on my life, that is, that portion of it which is payable to my estate on my death.
“Fourth. I hereby direct that out of the insurance funds as collected the following amounts are to be paid:
“(a) To my daughter Maud, wife of Thomas S. Shannon, I give Ten Thousand dollars ($10,000), which she is to invest in a home.
“(b) To my grandson, Edward Carter Shannon, I give an annuity of Two Thousand dollars ($2,000), to be paid for a period of five (5) years, either to his parents, or to himself if he is of age, upon proper requisition on my Executors. One-half (1) of this annuity must be used for educational purposes.
“(c) To the Young Woman’s Christian Association of Erie, Pennsylvania, I give the sum of Five thousand dollars ($5,000).
“(d) To the Old Ladies’ Home of Erie, Pennsylvania, I give the sum of Five thousand dollars ($5,000).
“Fifth. I hereby direct that my Executors expend the sum of Ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the purchase of a suitable location in the Erie Cemetery and the erection thereon of a proper mausoleum to receive the bodies of myself and family.
“Sixth. I hereby direct that my executors pay to my wife, if living, an annuity of Eight thousand dollars ($8,000), to be paid quarterly until my estate shall be closed as hereinafter provided.
“Seventh. I hereby direct that my Executors pay to my daughter, Maude, wife of Thomas S. Shannon, an annuity of Four thousand dollars ($4,000) in quarterly payments until my estate shall be closed as hereinafter provided.
“Eighth. All annuities made in this will may be paid out of unexpended life insurance funds, or the income from same, or from the income from my estate other than life insurance.
“Ninth. I hereby direct my Executors, that if after a period of eight (8) years, my estate, both real and personal, be in such shape that in their opinion there will be no loss to, or embarrassment of associates or partners in enterprises forming a part of my estate, or in which my estate will have an interest, then shall my estate be closed in the following manner, to wit: One-third (I) of same to my wife, the residue to my daughter Maud, wife of Thomas S. Shannon, and in any event my estate must be so closed at the expiration of ten (10) years after my death.”

The widow, Clara E. Carter, and the daughter, Maude Carter Shannon, join in a written request and authorize the executor to pay from the general estate, after and subject only to the debts, inheritance taxes and expenses of the estate, the legacies mentioned in the fourth clause of the will and also the $10,000 specified in the fifth clause for the purposes therein named.

Disbursements have been made covering these legacies, except the one for the grandson provided for in the fourth clause of the will — paragraph (b). It was the evident intent of the testator that payments should be made periodically, $2000 annually for five years, and not in one lump sum.

The testator directs in the fourth clause of his will that the legacies therein provided for shall be paid out of the insurance funds payable to his estate. The inventory shows life insurance of $87,000. This is the fund out of which the amounts named in this fourth clause must be paid.

[776]*776The annuities, beside the one for testator’s grandson, are for his wife $8000 annually, and for his daughter $4000 yearly, both to be paid quarterly, and the eighth clause of the will specifies the funds out of which payment is to be made, either from insurance funds or income from another portion of his estate.

The widow has elected to take against the will, and that eliminates the annuity of $8000 to her.

There is not enough left of the insurance funds out of which to pay the annuity to the daughter of $4000 yearly in quarterly payments, and an alternative source of payment is provided for out of the income of other assets.

Two questions arise: First. Does the election of the widow operate to terminate the trust created by the will as to the residuary estate, or should the trust remain effective as to the remainder of the estate after the widow has received her share? Second. Do the terms of the will result in an accumulation of income in violation of the statute of April 18, 1853, § 9, P. L. 503, prohibiting it; if so, who is entitled to the income?

“Section 9.

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Bluebook (online)
4 Pa. D. & C. 774, 1923 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 200, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carters-estate-paorphcterie-1923.