Estate of Muhammad

16 Cal. App. 3d 726, 94 Cal. Rptr. 856
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 16, 1971
Docket11922
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 16 Cal. App. 3d 726 (Estate of Muhammad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of Muhammad, 16 Cal. App. 3d 726, 94 Cal. Rptr. 856 (Cal. Ct. App. 1971).

Opinion

16 Cal.App.3d 726 (1971)
94 Cal. Rptr. 856

Estate of ATA MUHAMMAD, Deceased.
BELLI, ASHE, GERRY, ELLISON & CHOULOS et al., Petitioners and Respondents,
v.
BANK OF AMERICA, as Trustee, etc., Objector and Appellant.

Docket No. 11922.

Court of Appeals of California, Third District.

April 16, 1971.

*728 COUNSEL

Geis & MacFarland and Roy G. MacFarland for Objector and Appellant.

Belli, Ashe, Ellison, Choulos, Cone & Harper, Belli, Ashe, Ellison, Choulos & Lieff, Frederick A. Cone and Vasilios B. Choulos for Petitioners and Respondents.

OPINION

JANES, J.

Appellant bank is testamentary trustee under the last will and testament of Ata Muhammad, who died on January 6, 1961. The appeal is from an order made in the estate proceeding on July 18, 1967, fixing attorneys' fees and directing the executors to pay those fees to respondent attorneys for services performed by them on behalf of Yasmin Muhammad, the decedent's minor daughter, in a contest of decedent's will.

The will was admitted to probate on February 3, 1961. After the payment of taxes, approved claims, and the expenses of administration, the will *729 left one-fourth of the residuary estate (including mineral rights) in trust for Yasmin's support, education, and welfare (hereinafter, "Trust `A'"). The will directed appellant bank, as trustee, to apply to those trust purposes so much of the trust property (corpus, income, and revenue therefrom) as the trustee in its sole and absolute discretion deemed best.[1] The will gave the other three-fourths of the residuary estate (including mineral rights) to a different trust for the benefit of the decedent's brother and four nephews (hereinafter, "Trust `B'"). The testator authorized the trustee of Trust "A" to terminate the trust for any reason and at any time, and to thereupon transfer the remaining assets of Trust "A" to Trust "B." In the event of the prior termination of Trust "B," the will specified that the residual assets of Trust "A" were to be transferred to the heirs of the testator's brother and nephews. If Yasmin died while Trust "B" was still in existence, the will directed that the remaining property of Trust "A" was to be turned over to Trust "B."

On June 20, 1961, through her mother as guardian ad litem, Yasmin filed a will contest wherein she sought an order revoking the earlier probate. The minor was represented by respondent attorneys. The mother was appointed guardian of the minor's estate in 1962; on February 10, 1964, respondent Harper was ordered substituted as such guardian.

On January 16, 1964 (25 days, we note, before Harper's appointment), the will contest was compromised by a written agreement signed on Yasmin's behalf by Harper as the purported guardian of her estate, by the trustees of Trust "A" and Trust "B," by the beneficiaries of Trust "B," and by Yasmin's mother, individually.[2] The agreement stipulated to a dismissal of the contest.

Under the compromise, just as under the will, Trust "A" was to receive one-fourth of the residuary estate (including mineral rights). In contrast to the will, however, the compromise provided that the trustee of Trust "A" had discretion only in regard to the amount of trust corpus that would be applied for Yasmin's support, education, and welfare; the compromise specified that the trustee was to pay all trust income and revenue to Yasmin's mother or to any other person or entity appointed as the child's *730 guardian, and that the payee was to use such income and revenue for the minor's support, education, and welfare.

The compromise also stated that its signatories had "deleted" those portions of the will which authorized the trustee of Trust "A" to terminate that trust and which, under certain contingencies, required the assets of Trust "A" to be transferred either to Trust "B" or to the heirs of the Trust "B" beneficiaries. Instead, the compromise provided that the trustee of Trust "A" was to deliver one-third of the Trust "A" residue to Yasmin when she reached the age of 21, one-half of the remaining trust estate to her when she became 25, and the balance of the trust estate to her at age 35, or to her heirs if she died sooner.

Respondent attorneys represented Yasmin during the negotiations leading to the compromise, but the settlement agreement made no mention of attorneys' fees.

Subsequent to the signing of the compromise by the parties named therein, it was executed by the executors on behalf of the estate.[3] Upon petition of the executors, the court approved the compromise on March 6, 1964. Its order of that date recites that "all interested persons" had "joined in the petition" — a statement which, together with later portions of the record, shows that the compromise was still supported by respondent Harper once he became guardian.

On February 6, 1967, by a decree of preliminary distribution, the court ordered distributed to appellant bank, as testamentary trustee of Trust "A," the sum of $70,884.24 and an undivided one-fourth interest in described mineral rights. The decree stated that the distribution was pursuant to the will "as modified by" the compromise. An additional $42,442.13 was retained by the executors and was not included in the preliminary distribution. The $42,442.13 was part of the total distributive share of Trust "A" (that total being $113,326.37 plus one-fourth of the mineral rights).

On April 28, 1967, respondent attorneys and respondent Harper, in his capacity as guardian, petitioned the court for its approval of a contingent fee contract entered into on Yasmin's behalf by her mother, acting as "parent and natural guardian," and by three of the five respondent attorneys. The contract was dated the day after the testator's death. It provided that the three attorneys would represent the minor's interest in the decedent's estate and that they would be paid "33 1/3% of any moneys *731 or property, real, personal or any other valuable consideration, which is set aside for or awarded to ... YASMIN MUHAMMAD, a minor, by way of Decree of Distribution, by Court Order, or by compromise." The petition asked for attorneys' fees of $37,775.34 (33 1/3 percent of $113,326.37), or, in the alternative, that the court determine a reasonable fee. It also requested the court to order the executors to pay the fee directly to the five attorneys "out of the distributive share of YASMIN MUHAMMAD, a minor...."

On July 18, 1967, over the objections of appellant bank, the court made the following order: "The Court finds that the material allegations of the Petition [for attorneys' fees] are true, hereby affirms and ratifies the Attorneys' [contingent fee] Contract and further finds that the sum of $28,331.59, being equal to twenty-five percent (25%) of the distributive share of YASMIN MUHAMMAD, a Minor, is a fair and reasonable sum to be awarded to Petitioners as and for attorneys' fees. The Court, therefore, further directs and orders that the Executors of the Estate of ATA MUHAMMMAD, deceased, pay directly to Petitioners BELLI, ASHE, GERRY & ELLISON and VASILIOS B. CHOULOS the said sum of $28,331.59." In a memorandum opinion which announced its intended ruling, the court correctly stated that there was "no case law directly in point." It concluded, however, that "the equities require the allowance of a reasonable fee."

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Bluebook (online)
16 Cal. App. 3d 726, 94 Cal. Rptr. 856, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-muhammad-calctapp-1971.