Corey v. National Bank

159 N.E.2d 814, 80 Ohio Law. Abs. 430, 10 Ohio Op. 2d 160, 1958 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 325
CourtLucas County Court of Common Pleas
DecidedJuly 12, 1958
DocketNo. 183284
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 159 N.E.2d 814 (Corey v. National Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Lucas County Court of Common Pleas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Corey v. National Bank, 159 N.E.2d 814, 80 Ohio Law. Abs. 430, 10 Ohio Op. 2d 160, 1958 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 325 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1958).

Opinion

OPINION

By McCABE, J.

This is an action for the construction of the Will of Elias J. Corey, [431]*431deceased, brought by the widow, Nahella Corey, against the defendants, The National Bank of Toledo, formerly Commerce National Bank of Toledo, Executor and Trustee named under the Will, and the deceased’s children, Roger E. Corey, Esa E. Corey and Matile Michel. All parties were duly before the Court and represented by counsel. The pleadings consist of the plaintiff’s petition and the answers of the defendants. Trial was held on June 25, 1958, at which time testimony was taken and oral arguments of counsel heard. Counsel for the plaintiff and counsel for the defendants Roger E. Corey, Esa E. Corey and Matile Michel presented trial briefs and, with leave of Court, counsel for plaintiff also filed a reply brief.

The facts have been established by the pleadings and have not been the subject of dispute for the reason that they are provable by incontrovertible documentary evidence to which all parties have had access. The deceased died a resident of Lucas County, Ohio, on May 15, 1956, leaving plaintiff and defendants Roger E. Corey, Esa E. Corey and Matile Michel his sole heirs at law. The deceased’s Last Will and Testament was identified by the witness Willis Ludeman, Chief Deputy Clerk of the Probate Court of Lucas County, Ohio, and admitted in evidence marked “Exhibit A.”

The question presented is whether or not the rights of the plaintiff to the income and to appoint the corpus of the trust established by Item IX A of the Will are subject to being defeated by the happening of any of the events set forth in Item X of the Will. I have concluded that the plaintiff’s rights as a beneficiary of Trust A are not subject to being defeated upon the happening of any of the events set forth in Item X because such conclusion is required by (1) the express words of the Will, (2) the intention of the testator as expressed in the dispositive provisions of the Will and (3) the law of Ohio with respect to spendthrift trusts.

The Trust established by Item IX A and Item X are as follows:

" 'A' "
“The Trustee shall set aside and hold, in a separate trust, Trust A, assets equal in value to one-half (%) of the value of my adjusted gross estate as determined for Federal estate tax purposes, less the aggregate value of marital deductions, if any, allowed for Federal estate tax purposes by reason of property or interests therein (including insurance proceeds) passing or which have passed to my wife otherwise than under this Will. Only such assets, the nature of which qualifies them for the marital deduction, shall be so set aside and held in such separate trust for my wife. The income and principal shall be distributed as follows:
“(a) All the income (which may be more but in no event shall be less than the income determined in accordance with the requirements of the applicable sections of the Internal Revenue Code and the rules and regulations issued pursuant thereto entitling a decedent’s estate to a marital deduction) shall be distributed to my wife annually or at more frequent intervals.
“(b) My said wife shall have the right and power, at any time and from time to time, and in all events, by means of a written instrument signed by her and delivered to the Trustee during her lifetime, or at her [432]*432death by provision in her will which expressly refers to her power of appointment hereunder, to appoint all or any part of the principal to such one or more person or persons (including herself and/or her estate), in such shares and amounts and in such manner, as she may designate.
“(c) To whatever extent my wife shall fail effectively to appoint such principal, it shall, upon her death, be distributed and paid over to Trust “B,” hereinafter set forth.”
“ITEM X
“If any beneficiary of any trust hereunder shall attempt at any time or times to alienate, sell, transfer, assign, pledge or otherwise encumber the whole or any part of the income and/or principal reserved to such beneficiary, or if any creditor or person having a claim or demand of any sort against any such beneficiary levies an attachment or otherwise attempts to subject the income and/or principal reserved hereunder to such beneficiary to the satisfaction of such beneficiary’s debts or other obligations, then and in that event and from that time forward the absolute right of such beneficiary to the income and/or principal hereunder reserved shall cease and determine and all income and/or principal hereunder reserved for such beneficiary shall thereafter be held or distributed by the Trustee during the remainder of the life of the trust for such beneficiary in all or any of the following ways:
“(a) All or any part of such income may be accumulated; or
“(b) Such part of such income, accumulated income and principal as may be needful or desirable for the education, care, comfort or support of such beneficiary or such beneficiary’s issue, may be paid to or applied to the use of such beneficiary or such beneficiary’s issue, as the Trustee in its absolute and uncontrolled discretion, without being liable to account for the exercise of such discretion, thinks fit.”

Trust A specifically provides that the plaintiff shall be entitled to the income which shall “in no event” be less than a certain amount and that she shall have the power to appoint the corpus “in all events.” The use of the word “event” is significant because in Item X it is provided that if there is an alienation, sale, etc., “then and in that event” the absolute right of the beneficiary shall cease. Thus, by labeling an alienation, sale, etc. an “event” in Item X and by providing in Trust A that no “event” shall defeat the rights of the widow, it becomes clear that the rights of the plaintiff as beneficiary of Trust A are exempted from forfeiture by the operation of Item X. Defendants’ contention that Item X must be applicable to the widow’s rights under Trust A because Item X uses the plural form in referring to “. . . any beneficiary of any trust hereunder . . .” is not well taken for even though all beneficiaries of all trusts created under the Will are referred to by such words, the limitations of Item X are only operative and are only imposed upon a particular beneficiary by the happening of one of the enumerated events, and, as pointed out above, the plaintiff’s rights to the income and to appoint the corpus under Trust A have been specifically exempted from the operation of the limitations .of Item X by the express words of Trust A and Item X. The widow’s rights to the income and to appoint the corpus of Trust A, therefore, are absolute and are not subject to [433]*433being defeated upon the happening of any of the events set forth in Item X.

The provisions of Trust A created in Item IX of the Will must also prevail over the limitations set forth in Item X, notwithstanding that Item X appears last, for the reason that Trust A is an affirmative dis-positive provision of the Will in which the testator expressed his intention that the plaintiff should be absolutely entitled to the benefit of the assets contained in Trust A; whereas, Item X is a general non-dispositive provision — in this case a typical “spendthrift” provision — that is not to be allowed to defeat the specifically expressed bequest of the testator to the plaintiff by Trust A.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
159 N.E.2d 814, 80 Ohio Law. Abs. 430, 10 Ohio Op. 2d 160, 1958 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 325, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/corey-v-national-bank-ohctcompllucas-1958.