Dollar Savings & Trust Co. v. First National Bank

285 N.E.2d 768, 32 Ohio Misc. 81, 61 Ohio Op. 2d 134, 1972 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 177
CourtMahoning County Court of Common Pleas
DecidedJuly 28, 1972
DocketNo. 11379-C
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 285 N.E.2d 768 (Dollar Savings & Trust Co. v. First National Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mahoning 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
Dollar Savings & Trust Co. v. First National Bank, 285 N.E.2d 768, 32 Ohio Misc. 81, 61 Ohio Op. 2d 134, 1972 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 177 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1972).

Opinion

Henderson, J.

This is an action seeking a declaratory judgment and instructions brought by The Dollar Savings & Trust Company of Youngstown, testamentary trustee under the will of Grace Tod Arrel, deceased.

Grace Tod Arrel died testate on November 27, 1921, domiciled in Mahoning County, Ohio. Under paragraph third of Item XVI of her will she left one-fourth of her residuary estate to the plaintiff in trust for the benefit of her daughter, Prances Arrel Parson during her lifetime, and thereafter as follows:

[83]*83“and after the decease of my said daughter, the principal of said Trust Fund shall be distributed among her legal heirs in such manner as it would be distributable, had she at her death, been the absolute owner thereof, in her own right. It is hereby provided however, that my said daughter shall have power to direct by her Will, the manner in which said Trust Fund shall be distributed and the persons to whom the same shall go.”

Frances Arrel Parson died testate December 2, 1969, domiciled in Hancock County, Maine. At the time of her death there was about $500,000, all personalty, in the Arrel trust fund and about $164,000 in her own probate estate. Her will, which was executed September 7, 1967, contains no specific reference to the Arrel power of appointment, but Article Fifth thereof provides as follows:

“Article Fifth: All the rest and residue of my property and estate of every kind and nature of which I shall die seized or possessed or to which I shall in any way be entitled or to which my estate may subsequently become entitled or over which I may have any power of appointment at the time of my death, I devise and bequeath to the then Trustee or Trustees under a certain Indenture of Trust heretofore executed by me on the 7th day of September 1967, as the same may be from time to time amended, between myself, as Settlor, and the Old Colony Trust Company, of Boston, County of Suffolk, Commonwealth of Massachusetts and George Arrel Parson of said Boston, as Trustees, which is known as the “Frances A. Parson Trust” to be added to the principal of the trust estate created under said Indenture and to be held, administered and distributed in all respects as an integral part thereof.”

The indenture of trust of September 7, 1967, mentioned in her will, is a living trust executed on that date by Frances Arrel Parson and the corporate predecessor of the defendant The First National Bank of Boston, and the defendant George Arrel Parson as trustees. It was a revocable trust but it was not revoked by Mrs. Parson during her lifetime. The trust agreement contains provisions for the inalienability of principal and income by the [84]*84beneficiaries and freedom from the claims of creditors. It also recites that the trust was created and is governed by, and is to be construed and administered according to the laws of Massachusetts. The assets in the trust, at the time of death of Mrs. Parson, amounted to about $3,100,000 in addition to her probate assets. The trustees of Mrs. Parson’s trust are also the executors of her estate.

The trust indenture provides that after the settlor’s death, certain payments are to be made to persons not the issue of the settlor, and that the remainder of the trust property is to be held for the benefit of the settlor’s children for their lives. Each child is given a testamentary power of appointment “to or among” his own issue. In default of such appointment by any child, his share is to be retained in trust for the benefit of his issue, or the issue of the settlor, by representation, until each of such issue reaches the age of 21 years, at which time he is to receive Ms share of the principal, but in no event later than 21 years after the death of the last to die of the settlor and all her issue living at the date of the execution of the trust indenture.

Mrs. Parson is survived by three children, George A. Parson, Donald Parson, Jr., and Prances P. Hunt, all of whom were living at the death of Grace Tod Arrel, and eight grandchildren and seven great grandchildren, all of whom were born after the death of Mrs. Arrel. The children maintain that they are entitled to the Arrel trust assets outright because Mrs. Parson, their mother, did not intend to exercise the Arrel power of appointment in favor of her living trust, and could not have done so legally even if she had so intended.

It is axiomatic that it is the duty of this court to determine, as nearly as possible, the intent of the decedent, and to see such intent is fulfilled if the law permits. This seems especially true in this case in wMch there are contingent beneficiaries, and the living trust created by the donee of the power of appointment, Prances A. Parson, is a spendthrift trust.

The question first presented is the nature of the power [85]*85of appointment which Grace Tod Arrel gave to her daughter. The Parson children maintain that the power is a special power, that the objects of its exercise are limited to the “legal heirs” of her daughter, and that therefore, she was unable to appoint the Arrel trust assets to her living trust because the beneficiaries of the latter include many persons who were not her legal heirs at her death. They reason that by application of the doctrine of ejusclem generis, the sentence “(It) is hereby provided however, that my said daughter shall have power to direct by her will, the manner in which said trust fund shall be distributed and the persons to whom the same shall go ’ ’ is limited by the preceding clause, “after the decease of my said daughter, the principal of said trust fund shall be distributed among her legal heirs in such manner as it would be distributable, had she at her death, been the absolute owner thereof, in her own right.”

It appears to the court to be unnecessary for the purposes of this proceeding to determine whether the power of appointment is a special one or a general one. For although the non-applicability of the doctrine of ejusclem generis to the facts of this case seems arguable, nevertheless Mrs .Parson acted within the scope of her power, in the court’s opinion, even though the power be deemed a special one with the objects of its exercise limited to Mrs. Parson’s heirs. For the fact is that if Mrs.. Parson exercised the power at all, she exercised it primarily for the benefit of her children who were her only “legal heirs.” It would seem that the power to direct “the manner in which said Trust Fund shall be distributed and the persons to whom the same shall go” is broad enough to permit Mrs. Parson to appoint to her “legal heirs” by way of an inter vivos trust, whose provisions limit, the interests of her children to life estates, with testamentary powers of appointment in them for the benefit of their issue, and remainders over to their issue in default of exercise. Furthermore, such manner of distribution by Mrs. Parson, in limiting the interests of her children to life estates, is similar to that utilized by Mrs. Arrel herself, Mrs, Arrel’s will recites that she did [86]*86so “thru no lack of confidence either in Fanny (Mrs. Parson), or in her husband, but because I believe it wise to follow the precedent which is found in the will of my father in making similar provision in respect to a portion of his estate left by him to my sister and myself, by thus placing a portion of Fanny’s share beyond the ordinary hazards of business.” To conclude that Mrs.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
285 N.E.2d 768, 32 Ohio Misc. 81, 61 Ohio Op. 2d 134, 1972 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 177, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dollar-savings-trust-co-v-first-national-bank-ohctcomplmahoni-1972.