Fine v. Saul

188 S.E. 439, 183 Ga. 309, 1936 Ga. LEXIS 224
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedNovember 11, 1936
DocketNo. 11500
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 188 S.E. 439 (Fine v. Saul) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fine v. Saul, 188 S.E. 439, 183 Ga. 309, 1936 Ga. LEXIS 224 (Ga. 1936).

Opinion

Gilbert, Justice.

A. D. Fine and Mrs. Jacob Silver, beneficiaries of a trust estate created by the will of their mother, Mrs. Gertrude Fine, filed a petition in equity against J. Saul, one of the trustees, and Travelers Insurance Company. The allegations 'of the petition, other than those shown in the opinion, are substantially as follows. The plaintiffs’ mother, Mrs. Gertrude Fine, died in the year 1929, and her will was probated in the court of ordinary of Fulton County on November 4, 1929. The plaintiffs were minors at the time of the death of their mother. The will provided that the trustees and executors should, as trustees, hold the property until each child should become twenty-seven years of age; that they should use the income and, if necessary, the corpus of the property for the children’s support and education. It authorized the executors and trustees to sell any of the property and to reinvest and hold the proceeds without any orders of any court. It named J. Saul, Hyman S. Jacobs, and H. Saul as “executors of her will” and as “trustees” for her children, and provided that they should not be required to give bond or file reports or returns of any kind to any court, or to obtain any orders of any kind in the management, sale, disposition, or settlement of the estate (item 8). It did not specifically authorize them to lend on real estate.

The defendant having interposed demurrers general and special, and the Travelers Insurance Company having filed an answer setting out the claim of J. Saul against that company, and that Abe Saul and Herbert Saul, sons of J. Saul, claimed the title to this fund, the plaintiffs offered to amend their original petition in the following respects: (1) They sought to make Hyman S. Jacobs and H. Saul, the other executors and trustees, and Abe Saul and Herbert Saul, the claimants to the fund, parties defendant. They alleged further that the executors had discharged their duties as executors, and were now holding the property in their hands as [311]*311trustees, having fully discharged all of the liabilities of the estate of Gertrude Fine, the testatrix, other than the liability to these plaintiffs. (2) Alleging themselves to be the sole beneficiaries of the trust estate, they set out in detail the equitable grounds for relief, and alleged that complete relief could not be obtained at law. The other executors were related to J. Saul in a designated manner, and had refused to bring the action. Further, these executors were themselves secondarily liable. While they alleged the right to file this suit in their own names against the executors and trustees, they set out the uncertainty regarding that title; and that while their possession of a legal title sufficient to bring an action at law was doubtful, equity had jurisdiction of such an action, and that the same could proceed in the name of the executors as defendants. Such suit could be brought only in equity. They alleged, as further equitable grounds for the maintenance of the action, that the Travelers Insurance Company had disclosed' the claim of Abe Saul and Herbert Saul to the res involved; and 'in order that equity might have all parties before it to do complete justice, they sought to make parties, the claimants to the fund, as well as all of the executors. They alleged further that if an action could not be maintained by them in their own names, or in the names of the other executors suing for their use, then the trust should not fail for want of a trustee, and a court of equity should appoint a new trustee, or, in the alternative, a receiver. They prayed for an accounting between- themselves and the trustee, J. Saul, for the default charged in the original petition and in the amendment, and that the court retain jurisdiction of the trust estate until they reached the age of twenty-seven. On objections the court disallowed the amendment, and thereafter sustained the demurrer and dismissed the petition. To these rulings the plaintiffs excepted.

As we construe the plaintiffs’ pleadings in their entirety, there is no effort to administer an estate. Therefore the allegations and prayers for equitable relief do not encroach upon jurisdiction of the court of ordinary. The court of ordinary never had, and never could exercise, jurisdiction to enforce the terms of the trust imposed by the deceased upon the defendants. Under the terms of the will two separate duties were imposed upon J. Saul, H. Saul, and Hyman S. Jacobs: One was the duty imposed upon [312]*312them as executors to faithfully administer the estate of their testatrix according to the terms of the will and the law applicable thereto. The. other duty was to hold the property entrusted to them as trustees and to faithfully carry out the trusts imposed. Sanders v. Hinton, 171 Ga. 702 (156 S. E. 812). This is a proceeding seeking equitable relief against testamentary trustees for a breach of duty. In so far as the record discloses, there is no duty left unperformed by the defendants with reference to the administration of the estate. But if there is any such, the decision of this case will not conflict with such duty or duties.

Equity has jurisdiction of trusts and trustees such as are here involved. “Trusts of every kind, not generally cognizable at law, are peculiar subjects of equity jurisdiction. Civil Code, § 3779 [1933, § 108-117]. If the trustee omits to act when required by duty to do so, or is wanting in necessary care and diligence in the due execution of the trust which he has undertaken, a court of equity will interpose. Jones v. Dougherty, 10 Ga. 273. The relief granted, in cases of trust, will always be so molded and framed as to render the trust effectual, and secure the best interests of all parties. Civil Code, § 3783 [1933, § 108-118]. To preserve a trust estate, to supervise its management, to hold the trustee to the line of duty, for 'the purpose of preserving its corpus for the benefit of the beneficiaries, is an elementary branch of equity jurisprudence. Johns v. Johns, 23 Ga. 31; Knight v. Knight, 75 Ga. 386 (3). The judge of the superior court of each county has power, either in term or at chambers, to remove and appoint trustees. Civil Code, § 3744 [1933, § 108-303]. When a court of equity obtains jurisdiction for one purpose, it will proceed to give full relief to all parties with reference to the subject-matter of the suit, where it has jurisdiction for' that purpose. § 4522 [1933, § 37-105].” Clark v. Clark, 167 Ga. 1, 18 (144 S. E. 787). See Citizens & Southern National Bank, v. Clark, 172 Ga. 625 (158 S. E. 297).

The trustee, J. Saul, with the assent of the other trustees, II. Saul and Hyman S. Jacobs, borrowed $15,000 in the name of J. Saul & Company, dominated by said J. Saul. The note was secured by á lien on real estate, but the security deed was not recorded. The property was burned, and the trustees permitted the loss to be paid to J. Saul, who collected $10,000. All of said [313]*313transactions are alleged to be fraudulent. After the destruction by fire, the land was worth not exceeding $2500. J. Saul is insolvent, but has recently obtained a judgment against the Travelers Insurance Company for $61-70, and the petitioners prayed that J. Saul be restrained from disposing of this property or from assigning it. J. Saul’s cotrustees, though requested by petitioners, will not act to protect them as beneficiaries of the trust. A court of equity will seize choses in action in the hands of creditors of J. Saul and apply the same to the debt owed by him to his cestuis que trust.

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Bluebook (online)
188 S.E. 439, 183 Ga. 309, 1936 Ga. LEXIS 224, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fine-v-saul-ga-1936.