City Bank Farmers Trust Co. v. Bennett

159 Misc. 779, 287 N.Y.S. 784, 1936 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1129
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 30, 1936
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 159 Misc. 779 (City Bank Farmers Trust Co. v. Bennett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City Bank Farmers Trust Co. v. Bennett, 159 Misc. 779, 287 N.Y.S. 784, 1936 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1129 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1936).

Opinion

Hoffman, Referee.

Plaintiff instituted this action for an account of its proceedings as trustee which it asked to be judicially settled and allowed; that the rights, shares and interests of the various defendants in and to the property in its hands as trustee, constituting the trust fund, be determined and defined; and that a decision also be made as to any and all questions which may be raised relating to said trust by any party hereto. All the issues were referred to me as referee to hear and determine.

[781]*781There has been no prior accounting which covers a period of over twelve years, namely, from May 31, 1922, the inception of the trust, to the accounting date of December 4, 1934. The account is a voluminous one, consisting of some 236 typewritten pages. The value of the trust at the time of its receipt was $1,353,085.12, and the trustee charges itself with a balance on hand of $1,158,075.62.

On May 31, 1922, Edith M. Schweckendieck, since deceased, executed a trust agreement which recited that as donor she had simultaneously transferred and paid over to plaintiff various assets and securities specified in the annexed schedule. The instrument also provided that the property thus or thereafter delivered should be held in trust to invest and reinvest the same, to collect and receive the issues and profits thereof, and apply the net amount to the use of the donor during her natural life, and upon her death to pay over the trust principal to her husband, if he should survive, but in the event of his death, at the time of the decease of the donor, to pay over the trust principal to the executors and administrators of her estate. The donor’s husband predeceased her. The trust agreement further provided that the donor reserved to herself the right to amend the instrument from time to time, and as often as she deemed advisable. Pursuant to this power, the donor made several amendments in effect authorizing the trustee to invest the principal of the trust fund in designated stocks, and that any dividend received in stocks should constitute principal of the trust fund; that the word securities ” used in the agreement included common and preferred stocks. A prior amendment was revoked, and the trust agreement amended to provide that, upon the death of the donor, the trustee should pay to divers persons and institutions specific legacies. Finally, a further amendment provided — and this is recited in full, since it constitutes the gravamen of the principal objection urged:

All the remainder of the principal of said trust fund (including all sums not otherwise effectively disposed of), the Trustee shall continue to hold in trust, nevertheless, for the following uses and purposes, that is to say:
“ To hold, manage, invest, and reinvest the same in perpetuity, subject to all of the power, authority, and discretion by said Trust Agreement, and by said amendments of the 20th day of May, 1925, and the 27th day of June, 1933, conferred upon said Trustee, and to collect and receive the income therefrom, and from time to time to apply the net income therefrom as nearly as may be possible as follows:
(a) One-third thereof to such charitable organization or organizations located in the State of New York and engaged either [782]*782entirely or partially in work for the prevention and relief of cancer, as said Trustee shall from time to time select.
(b) Another one-third thereof to such charitable organization or organizations located in the State of New York arid engaged either entirely or partially in work for the maintenance and care of the aged and feeble, as said Trustee shall from time to time select.
“ (c) The remaining one-third thereof to such charitable organization or organizations located in the State of New York and engaged either entirely or partially in work for the maintenance, care, and education of crippled children, as said Trustee shall from time to time select.
“(d) If at any time after my death, either because a means of preventing or of curing cancer shall have been discovered, or for any other reason, said Trustee in its sole discretion shall determine that it is no longer necessary or advisable to apply any of the income of the perpetual trust fund hereinabove created, to the uses described in subdivision ‘ (a) ’ above, then said Trustee shall thereafter apply the entire net income from said perpetual trust fund as follows:— One-half thereof to such charitable organization or organizations located in the State of New York and engaged either entirely or partially in work for the maintenance and care of the aged and feeble, as said Trustee shall from time to time select, and the other one-half thereof to such charitable organization or organizations located in the State of New York and engaged either entirely or partially in work for the maintenance, care, and education of crippled children, as said Trustee shall from time to time select.”

The Attorney-General, pursuant to section 113 of the Real Property Law and section 12 of the Personal Property Law, has appeared herein, and joined in support of the argument that the charitable provisions of the trust are valid and should be sustained.

The guardians ad litem have filed twelve objections to the account. The principal point urged, however, is with respect to the validity of the trust. The provisions relating to the charitable trust are assailed as invalid on the ground that the corpus of the fund is diverted to private use, thus failing of its strictly charitable purpose and violating the law against perpetuities. If this contention is upheld, the trust so established would necessarily lapse, and the property would be administered as intestate property.

The questions of law have been ably briefed' by counsel and materially aided in the rendition of this opinion.

Three distinct issues have been presented for consideration. These are: First, the right of the guardian ad litem, appointed by the court, to represent infants having a specific legacy and con[783]*783tingent interest, to appear and urge objections to the account; second, the alleged invalidity of the trust agreement; and, third, criticisms of the administering of the trust investments and holdings by the trustee. Each will be discussed in the order named.

The Guardians’ Bight to Appear and File Objections.

The court appointed two separate guardians ad litem to protect the interests of its wards — infants entitled to a specific legacy and having a contingent interest dependent on a finding against the validity of the trust agreement. These officers of the court filed the usual answers, appeared before me and submitted objections to the account. At the outset the trustee argued that having set aside the specific legacy called for in the trust, the guardians were not concerned with the account, had no standing, and moved for the dismissal of their filed objections.

The conceded interest of the infants made them necessary parties to this action. They were, therefore, entitled to be represented and heard on any matter affecting the trust agreement and the account submitted by the-’trustee. Their guardians were within their rights in protecting their interests by filing objections in good faith, and this they are entitled to do regardless of the pecuniary value of such interest or its contingent nature.

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Related

In re the Construction of the Will of Lawless
194 Misc. 844 (New York Surrogate's Court, 1949)
In re the Judicial Settlement of the Final Account of Proceedings of Lyon
254 A.D. 292 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1938)

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Bluebook (online)
159 Misc. 779, 287 N.Y.S. 784, 1936 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1129, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-bank-farmers-trust-co-v-bennett-nysupct-1936.