D'Evereaux Hall Orphan Asylum v. Green

226 So. 2d 725, 1969 Miss. LEXIS 1311
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 29, 1969
DocketNo. 45399
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 226 So. 2d 725 (D'Evereaux Hall Orphan Asylum v. Green) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
D'Evereaux Hall Orphan Asylum v. Green, 226 So. 2d 725, 1969 Miss. LEXIS 1311 (Mich. 1969).

Opinion

RODGERS, Justice:

This case involves the interpretation of a will, particularly as to whether or not the trustees named in the will can invade the corpus of the estate for the purpose of paying certain annuities specified in the will.

From the record on appeal in this case it appears that Charles F. Engle wrote a holographic will on October 1st, 1953. He wrote a codicil to this will on October 10th, 1953, and a second codicil on January 26th, 1955. A synopsis of the will is essential to establish a clear picture of the problem.

Engle’s wife was given all his property for life, the remainder at her death was to revert to Engle’s estate in trust. The trustees of this trust were to assume their duties upon Mrs. Engle’s death. Said trustees were (1) W. A. Geisenberger (Geisen-berger’s appointment was revoked, by codicil, and William Falkenheiner was appointed in Geisenberger’s place); (2) John Green; and (3) Bob Netterville.

The trustees were directed to dispose of that property which reverted to Engle’s estate upon the death of Mrs. Engle, as follows: The following persons were to receive a monthly payment, for life, being (1) Eloise Falkenheiner — $300; (2) Marie Kiernan — $150; (3) Alma Alexander'— $150; (4) Nona Louise Valdes — $200, and at her death, to her children then living during their lives; (5) Anna Laura Hager —$100; (6) Mandy Ahart — $50; (7) Minerva Lewis — $50. The said above-mentioned monthly payments were termed in the litigation in issue “annuities”; thus the beneficiaries of these annuities are called “annuitants.”

The trustees were then directed, after providing for the payment of the above-mentioned annuities, to sell all the real property of the testator and to dispose of the proceeds as follows: (1) 14 th to the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Natchez; (2) i/sth to St. Stanislas College at Bay St. Louis; (3) $5,000 to Prentiss N & I Institute at Prentiss, Miss.; (4) $10,000 for the purchase of tombstones for the ■graves of Engle, his parents, his wife, and his wife’s family, should this not be done during Mrs. Engle’s lifetime; (5) $3,000 to Sidney Warren and his wife for the benefit of their children.

After having provided for the above-named annuitants, and for the above-named legatees, the trustees were directed to dispose of the remainder of the estate as follows: (1) '14tb to the next of kin through [727]*727Engle’s cousin, John Kiernan, taking per stirpes; (2) ,14th to the three orphan asylums in Natchez, share and share alike; (3) .14th to Carl and Peggy Hoppe; (4). '14th to the children of Walter and Anna Coleman.

The testator, Engle, also made several statements throughout his will and codicils which, it is argued in briefs for both the appellants and appellees, shed some light on the intent of Engle. At one point he stated that the “trustees may exercise their judgment about selling or holding revenue property.” At another point he stated that “the monthly payments set out are preferred bequests, and trustees may decide that revenues from real estate are needed to take care of said bequests and instead of selling real estate may hold same and distribute any surplus revenues to devisees annually.” And finally, at another point, Engle stated that “in event of disagreement as to construction hereof, the decision of said trustees shall control.”

Engle died in June, 1955. Mrs. Engle, thus holding a life estate in the property left by Mr. Engle, lived nearly 12 years after Mr. Engle’s death. During this period Mrs. Engle executed several mineral leases on property which she held under the terms of Mr. Engle’s will.

When Mrs. Engle died on April 12, 1967, the estate which Mr. Engle left to Mrs. Engle for life reverted to Mr. Engle’s estate in trust, and the heretofore-named trustees assumed their duties. For a period of approximately 10 months (April 12, 1967 — February 14, 1968) subsequent to the death of Mrs, Engle, the trustees kept financial records of the trust showing the total receipts and disbursements thereof. Pursuant to the information acquired through these records, the trustees filed a “Petition to Authorize Payment of Monthly Income to Beneficiaries.” In this petition the trustees averred that while the total annuities amounted to $11,400 per year, income would amount to only approximately $10,500 per year. Concluding in their petition that income would be insufficient to pay the annuities, the trustees asked the chancery court for permission to invade the principal to pay the annuitants, and also to borrow against the principal to pay the annuitants.

The trustees averred that the testator’s intent was that all the gross receipts from royalty and similar oil interests be paid to the annuitants. On the other hand, they point out that the Uniform Principal and Income Act (Section 672-151 et seq. Miss. Code 1942 Ann. (1966) calls for royalty to be allocated, 27¡54 per cent of gross receipts to principal as a depletion allowance, and the balance allocated to income. They conclude that there is a conflict between the trustees’ interpretation of the testator’s intent on this issue, and the dictates of the Uniform Principal and Income Act, the trustees therefore asked the chancery court to resolve this conflict.

In their answer, the appellants denied the right of the annuitants to receive anything other than income from real estate; that is to say, the corpus of the real estate is not charged by the will with the payment of the monthly amounts. Appellants also denied the right of the annuitants to receive any oil royalties from any leases which were executed after the death of the testator, although payments may be made to the annuitants from oil royalties and other such income derived from leases éxe-. cuted by the testator himself. Appellants aver that all royalties or income from any leases executed after the death of the testator must be paid into the corpus of the trust, and that the annuitants are then entitled only to the income derived from the investment of such corpus. It is also said, with regard to the Uniform Principal and Income Act, that since the act was passed in 1966 it cannot affect appellants’ remainder interests which vested in 1953.

Subsequently, appellants filed a supplementary petition asking the chancery court to adjudicate the quantum of estate held by Mrs. Engle under the will of Mr. Engle, concluding that a determination of the issues raised would be premature unless there [728]*728is an initial determination of the quantum of estate of Mrs. Engle. The trustees filed a motion to strike the supplementary petition of appellants, contending primarily that the quantum of estate of Mrs. Engle had heretofore been determined by decree of the chancery court dated November 8, 1967, said decree approving final accounting and discharging Mrs. Engle as executrix of Mr. Engle’s will.

In his decree the Chancellor held (1) that Mrs. Engle, having only a life estate, was without authority to execute oil and gas leases after Mr. Engle’s death. This is so even though she was also executrix of the estate, an executrix having the power to lease lands of the decedent’s estate only when it is expressly given in the will. However, it is said that authority to execute leases did exist in the trustees, since such authority was implied by those provisions of Mr. Engle’s will authorizing the trustees to invade the corpus of the estate. In other words, since oil and gas royalties are part of the corpus of an estate, authority to invade the corpus by executing mineral leases may be implied.

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Bluebook (online)
226 So. 2d 725, 1969 Miss. LEXIS 1311, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/devereaux-hall-orphan-asylum-v-green-miss-1969.