Caswell v. Lenihan

163 Ohio St. (N.S.) 331
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedMay 18, 1955
DocketNo. 34128
StatusPublished

This text of 163 Ohio St. (N.S.) 331 (Caswell v. Lenihan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Caswell v. Lenihan, 163 Ohio St. (N.S.) 331 (Ohio 1955).

Opinion

Stewart, J.

The facts are substantially undisputed.

On May 28, 1936, Ernest P. Lenihan, grandfather of plaintiff and father of defendant, entered into a [333]*333written declaration of trust, which was modified on June 17, 1936.

The trust agreement provides for the deposit by Ernest P. Lenihan, the settlor, of securities with the trustee and grants broad investment powers to the trustee.

During the time with which this case is concerned, the trustee was City Bank Farmers Trust Company.

The declaration of trust provides that, during the life of the settlor, the trustee shall pay the net income of the trust to him; that after the settlor’s death the trustee shall pay the net income to his widow; and that after the death of both of them the trustee shall pay specified percentages of such net income to named beneficiaries, among whom is included plaintiff, to the extent of eight and three-quarters per cent of such income during the life of settlor’s sister. The balance of the income, after the death of settlor and his wife, is to be distributed among settlor’s sister and his four children.

The trust provides that, if income should become applicable to the use of plaintiff, the trustee shall apply such income to her use “by paying the same to the settlor’s said son, Theodore W, if he shall be living.” It is provided that, in the event of the death of Theodore, such funds shall be paid to the settlor’s daughter, Anna, or if she is not living, to settlor’s son-in-law, Eugene E. Cashman, if living, “to be used by the settlor’s said son, or his said daughter, or his said son-in-law, as the case may be, as he or she may deem necessary or advisable properly to provide for the care, support, education and comfort of the settlor’s said granddaughter”; that “any excess income not used for the care, support, education and comfort of the said Barrie Caswell shall be accumulated until she shall reach the age of 21 years, and thereupon such [334]*334accumulations shall be paid over to her”; and that “the trustee shall not be required to inquire into the distribution made by the settlor’s said son, Theodore W., or the settlor’s said daughter, Anna Pauline, or the settlor’s said son-in-law, Eugene R. Cashman, as the case may be, of any income so paid to him or her, and the receipt of the settlor’s said son, or the settlor’s said daughter, or the settlor’s said son-in-law, for any income so paid to him or her shall be a complete discharge to the trustee with respect to such income.”

The trust agreement provides also that in the event of the death of Theodore, Anna, and Eugene, during plaintiff’s minority, the trustee “in its absolute and uncontrolled discretion” can apply so much of the income applicable to the use of plaintiff as the trustee “in its absolute and uncontrolled discretion” deems will be in accordance with the settlor’s wishes and shall accumulate the balance and pay it over to plaintiff on her coming of age.

It is provided also that, in case the trustee thus administers the trust, it, in determining how much of the income it should apply to the use of plaintiff, shall consider that the intention of the settlor was that, if plaintiff should be placed in the custody of her father during her minority, the entire expense “of providing for the proper education, care, comfort and support of such child shall devolve upon her father, and no part of the income of the trust fund shall be used for such purpose unless in the sole and uncontrolled discretion of the trustee the said Barrie Caswell shall be in need of assistance for her education, care, comfort and support, in which event the trustee may use so much of the income applicable to the use of the said Barrie Caswell for such purpose as it deems advisable, and shall be absolutely protected in so doing.”

[335]*335The trust provides further that the trustee, in his discretion, may make payment of the income, vesting in and payable to a minor, to such minor’s parent or guardian ‘ ‘ as the trustee in his discretion believes will benefit such minor”; and that “any payment hereinabove authorized shall be a full discharge to the trustee with respect-thereto. ”

After individual provisions granting broad discretionary authority to the trustee, it is provided that the decision of the trustee “with respect to the exercise or nonexercise by him of any discretionary power hereunder, or the time or manner of the exercise thereof, made in good faith, shall fully protect him and shall be conclusive and binding upon all persons interested in the trust estate.”

At the time of the creation of the trust in 1936, plaintiff’s mother and father, who was the mother’s second husband, had been divorced and her mother had remarried-

In 1937, the legal custody of plaintiff was, by court order, awarded to her father.

In 1942, income from the trust became payable to plaintiff and, in accordance with the trust, the trustees began paying sums of money to defendant for the use of plaintiff, which payments continued until May 6, 1952, when plaintiff became of age. The income was thereafter payable directly to her.

The total amount of money paid to defendant by the trustee was $11,739.54, which made an average of less than $100 per month during the period of the payments.

It is the application of this sum which is the subject matter of this action.

At the time of the beginning of the payments by the trustee to defendant, plaintiff’s mother was living with her fourth husband. He was the father of a boy, [336]*336plaintiff’s half brother, but from a financial standpoint he was unproductive, and the burden of maintaining a home fell upon plaintiff’s mother.

As observed, her father had the legal custody of plaintiff, but, nevertheless, plaintiff’s home was with her mother during most of the period when defendant was receiving money from the trustee on plaintiff’s behalf.

During a part of this 10-year period, plaintiff attended various boarding schools away from home, but when she was not in school her home was with her mother except for certain trips abroad with her father, and vacations in 1948 and 1949 in Colorado.

All the funds which defendant received from the trustee to the use of plaintiff he delivered to plaintiff’s mother, and defendant contends that in good faith he was expending this money for the proper education, care, comfort and support of plaintiff. The contention is made that it was essential that plaintiff have a home and that, although her custody was legally with her father, her home was with her mother. In fact, the father himself testified that he paid plaintiff’s mother $50 per month whenever plaintiff was at home with her mother, but not otherwise.

Not only did defendant pay the less than $100 per month trust income to plaintiff’s mother as a contribution to maintain a home for plaintiff, but, in addition, he paid considerable money out of his own pocket for that purpose, and he paid to plaintiff’s father the sum of $3,654.50 as contributions or advancements for the schooling and education of plaintiff.

In this situation, the Court of Appeals ordered “that this cause be remanded to Common Pleas Court with instructions to proceed with a hearing in accounting to determine how much of the funds, if any, in the total sum of $11,739.54 which defendant received [337]

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Bluebook (online)
163 Ohio St. (N.S.) 331, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/caswell-v-lenihan-ohio-1955.