Dunnington v. Evans

28 A. 1097, 79 Md. 83, 1894 Md. LEXIS 55
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedMarch 14, 1894
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 28 A. 1097 (Dunnington v. Evans) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dunnington v. Evans, 28 A. 1097, 79 Md. 83, 1894 Md. LEXIS 55 (Md. 1894).

Opinion

Fowler, J.,

.delivered the opinion of the Court.

On the 23d April, 1844, John W. Wilson conveyed certain pieces of property situated in Baltimore City to David Stewart in trust for the grantor during his life, and after his death in trust for his seven children, who are named, with remainders to them, contingent upon their surviving until the youngest of them shall arrive at the age of twenty-one years. Upon the arrival of such youngest child at the age named, the trust property was to be distributed among the beneficiaries, “the shares of.the sons to go to them absolutely, and the shares of the daughters to be held by said trustee, his heirs, &c., in trust for said daughters during the residue of the terms of their natural lives, respectively, and after the death of either of them, in trust for such person or persons as would by the now existing laws of Maryland be the heirs of said daughters respectively, to take an estate in fee simple in lands by descent from them * * * * ”

In acordance with this provision of the trust deed, on October 3d, 1865, the youngest child having arrived at the age of twenty-one, the surviving children of said grantor filed a bill in the Circuit Court of Baltimore City for the sale of the trust property, and the suit thus instituted is entitled Wilson et al. vs. Clark et al. All the persons then in being having an interest in the trust estate were made parties, either plaintiff or defendant; among the latter being James Stewart, the hem at law of David Stewart, trustee named in the deed. The bill alleged, among other things, that the original trustee, David Stewart, was dead; that the property in question, consisting of fee simple and leasehold, had been conveyed to David Stewart in trust for the use of the grantor for life, then in further trust that the income of said property should be [87]*87applied to the use of the seven children of the grantor until the youngest living should attain the age of twenty-one years; then in further trust to sell and divide the proceeds thereof among such of said children as might then be alive, and the survivors of them, and the heirs “in loco parentis” of such of them as might then be dead, so that the shares of the boys might be paid over to them, and the shares of the girls invested for their separate use respectively, for life, with remainder to such persons, &c., as provided in the deed of trust. The bill further alleged “that the time specified in said deed for the division of the trust estate had arrived, and that it would be to the interest and advantage of all the parties interested therein that the said property should be sold for division, and that it cannot be advantageously divided amongst them except by a sale thereof”; that, because of the limitations in the said deed in relation to some of the shares, no sale can be effected except under a decree of a Court of equity, and finally praying that said property may be sold for division, &c., and the proceeds thereof divided, &c., and for general relief. The deed was filed with, and made part of, the bill; and the original trustee being dead, a decree was passed by which T. Parkin Scott was appointed trustee to make the sale, which was by him duly made and reported to, and finally ratified by, said Court. The proceeds of sale were distributed in accordance with the construction given by the Court to the terms of the trust as set forth in the deed,— that is to say, the share of the only surviving son was paid to him absolutely, and the shares of the daughters were audited to said trustee, and by him subsequently invested under order of Court.

The share to which Catharine R. Evans was entitled for life, being the share' to which the property here in question is claimed to belong, was, by order of Court, invested in Baltimore City stock, and held by the trustee in trust for said Catharine during her life, and after her death for [88]*88such, person or persons as would be her heirs, &c., according to the terms of the trust. Subsequently, other orders were passed by said Court, changing the investment of this and other shares of the trust estate from time to time, but such new investments were always directed to be held under the same trusts.

On the 23d October, 1873, Catharine R. Evans, with another of the equitable life tenants, filed their petition, alleging the death of the trustee, T. Parkin Scott, and asking that John Wm. Wilson be appointed trustee in place of said Scott, with all the powers and authority conferred by said deed. Wilson was accordingly appointed as prayed, and on the 9th April, 1879, filed his petition asking for authority and direction to make sale of certain parts of the trust estate, among which was a sub-groundrent of $108.89, which was sold to the appellant, William A. Dunnington, which sale was duly reported to, and ratified by, the Court on the 10th May, 1880. The purchase money was paid in full, and the rent was duly conveyed to the appellant. The trustee, however, proved false to his trust, appropriated the proceeds to his own use, and was removed from his position as trustee on the 18th February, 1884. Thereupon, Henry D. Loney was appointed trustee in the place of said Wilson, with the same power and authority conferred by the trust deed of 1844. On the same day he was appointed, the new trustee was directed to bring suit on the bond of his predecessor to compel settlement of the trust, and also to file a bill in equity in said Court to set aside the conveyance of said rent to the appellant, Dunnington. All the proceedings we have thus far referred to were had in the case of Wilson et al. vs. Clark et al., which, as we have seen, was begun by the bill filed in 1865 for the sale of the trust estate, and the investment of the shares of the daughters. It was not, however, until the 29th December, 1892, that the bill in the case now before us was filed by Mrs. Evans, her husband, children, grandchildren, and Henry D. Loney, as trustee, to set [89]*89aside the orders passed in the case of Wilson vs. Clark, on the 9th April, 1879, and 10th May, 1880 respectively — the first authorizing, and the second ratifying, the sale of said ground rent to the appellant. The Court below vacated and rescinded these orders, and the purchaser, Dunnington, has appealed.

We have thus very fully recited the proceedings in the case of Wilson vs. Clark, because we think the facts which thus appear furnish satisfactory answers to the questions presented by this appeal.

1. It was contended on the part of the appellees that no power of sale was conferred upon the trustee by the deed of 1844, by which the trust was created, and the first trustee, David Stewart, was appointed, and that therefore neither the original trustee, nor any of his successors, nor the Court, could sell or authorize a sale of the trust estate, or any part of it. But it is clearly too late now for those who were parties to the case of Wilson vs. Clark to object to the validity of the sale on this ground. The bill in the case just named was filed thirty years ago, alleging in the most explicit terms that the deed not only gave the trustee power to sell the whole trust estate, but authority, also, to invest the shares of the daughters. This may or may not have been an erroneous construction of the deed, but it was in fact adopted by the Court. And, accordingly, the trust property was decreed to be sold — the shares of the daughters, including that of Mrs.

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Bluebook (online)
28 A. 1097, 79 Md. 83, 1894 Md. LEXIS 55, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dunnington-v-evans-md-1894.