First Nat. Bank of Beaumont v. Howard

223 S.W.2d 694, 1949 Tex. App. LEXIS 2157
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 15, 1949
DocketNo. 4593
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 223 S.W.2d 694 (First Nat. Bank of Beaumont v. Howard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
First Nat. Bank of Beaumont v. Howard, 223 S.W.2d 694, 1949 Tex. App. LEXIS 2157 (Tex. Ct. App. 1949).

Opinion

WALKER, Justice.

On January 30, 1945, E. S. Nowery made his last will and testament, in which the appellant, The First National Bank of Beaumont, was named Independent Executor, without bond, and was also made Trustee of Mr. Nowery’s estate upon the close of administration proceedings. Mr. Nowery died on October 29, 1946, and on November 19, 1946, the will was probated and the Bank was appointed Executor as aforesaid and on the same day qualified as Executor. Subsequently, the estate was administered, and on May 14, 1947, the Bank as Executor transferred and delivered Mr. Nowery’s estate to itself as Trustee, retaining, however, a small portion with which to discharge further tax assessments should any be made. The retention of this property is not in question here. The Bank has since acted, and is now acting, as Trustee under Mr. Nowery’s will. After the Bank began to act as Trustee, a dispute arose between the Bank and some of the beneficiaries of the trust concerning the meaning of Subsection 2 of Section III of the Fifth article of said will, and this suit was -brought by said beneficiaries as a result.

The beneficiaries of the trust were Mr. Nowery’s two daughters and the children of said daughters. At the time the will was made, -and at the time Mr. Nowery died, each daughter was married and each daughter had a son, and considering the ages of Mr. Nowery’s daughters it is not probable that either will have more children. The provisions concerning the trust are set out in the Fifth-article of the will; in Subsection 1 of Section III of the Fifth article one-half of the net income from the trust estate was given to each of the two daughters during their respective lives, with contingent remainders therein to their respective children and with -subsequent contingent cross-remainders therein to the other daughter and her children. The ■corpus of the estate was disposed of in Section IV of the Fifth article; and in Subsection 3 of Section IV the corpus of the estate was given to Mr. Nowery’s grandchildren upon the termination of the trust, which under Subsections 1 and 2 of Section IV occurred either upon -the death •of Mr. Nowery’s daughters or the arrival of the youngest grandchild at the age of 24 years, whichever was the latest event, or upon exhaustion of the corpus of the estate through authorized expenditures. The controversial Subsection 2 of Section III is quoted hereinafter; it gave the Bank as Trustee, the right, in case the net income from the estate was “insufficient”, to expend the corpus of the estate to provide the beneficiaries with proper maintenance and support (as well as necessary and reasonable medical care and proper education advantages) ; and the daughters argued to the Bank that Subsection 2 gave them a right to full and complete maintenance and support out of the corpus of the trust if and whenever the net income from the trust estate, considered alone and without regard to any other income or property available to them, was insufficient for that purpose. The Bank has taken the opposite position and now insists that under Subsection 2 corpus of the trust estate is not to be expended for the objects mentioned therein until all income available to the beneficiaries shall have been taken into consideration and a further and supplementary expenditure from the corpus of the estate is actually needed if the beneficiaries are [698]*698to have the proper maintenance and support (and the medical care and educational advantages) referred to in Subsection 2. According to the petition as amended, the judgment, and the trial court’s findings of falct, the issue between the parties was broader and included the question, whether capital assets as well as income ought to be considered in determining whether an expenditure from the corpus of the estate was necessary.

To resolve the issue made between them and the Bank, Mr. Nowery’s daughters, joined by their husbands, brought this suit. They prayed a construction of the will in accordance with their views, and an award to them out of the corpus of the estate sufficient for’their proper support and maintenance. According to the trial court’s 7th finding of fact, this suit was not an adversary proceeding, but was suggested by the Bank as the proper means of determining the questions at issue.

The defendants to this suit were the Bank, in its capacity as Executor and Trustee, and testator’s two grandsons, for whom, they being minors, the trial court appointed a guardian ad litem.

The Bank’s original answer was a general denial, but this pleading was amended, and as amended contained the following allegations : “This defendant further admits * * * that said will and particularly paragraph 2 of Section III of article fifth thereof, is a proper subject for judicial interpretation as to the meaning and intent of the testator therein; that this defendant believes that the sole and only point for interpretation in this suit is a determination of the question as to whether or not in paragraph 2 of Section III, article fifth, it was the intent of the Testator that the Trustee be authorized to take into consideration income of the beneficiaries from sources other than the Trust Estate in determining whether or not any part of the corpus of the Estate should be distributed for their maintenance and support; that this defendant believed it the intent of Testator that income from sources other than the Trust Estate should be considered, and therefore, has refused the request of the plaintiffs, who are the present beneficiaries under said trust, for the reason that they have sufficient income for maintenance and support from sources other than the Trust Estate; that defendant construes its duty to be one of following strictly and to the best of its knowledge and ability the intent of Testator as expressed in said will, or as some may be-construed by a court of competent jurisdiction.” As noted above, other parts of the record show an issue between the parties broader than the question as to the ■propriety of considering income from' sources other than the trust estate.

The Testator’s grandsons, by their guardian ad litem, filed an answer consisting of a general denial. Subsequently, this guardian resigned, a successor guardian ad litem was appointed, and the answer was amended. In their amended pleading, the grandsons, in effect, adopted the construction of the will which is expressed in the quotation just made from the Bank’s amended answer.

The cause was tried before the court 'sitting without a jury, and the judgment of the trial court is based upon proof made at two hearings, one on August 24, 1948, and another on October 5, 1948. We note-that plaintiffs filed a trial amendment, and that all defendants filed their amended answers, on the latter date. The trial court rendered judgment on October 15’,. 1948, adopting plaintiffs’ construction of the controversial Subsection 2 in the following language, to wit: “ — it was the intention of Testator that the Trustee not take into consideration income to or property of the beneficiaries or their husbands-from sources other than the trust estate — The trial court also rendered judgment in behalf of plaintiffs for the sum of $300 a month for the period beginning on March 1, 1948, (when plaintiffs first made demand on the Bank for an expenditure out of corpus) and ending on October 15, 1948, the date said judgment was rendered, -but decreed that further payments should be determined by the Trustee, under and in accordance with the discretion given it in the controversial Subsection 2. The trial -court also ordered the payment of certain sums to the at[699]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Keisling v. Landrum
218 S.W.3d 737 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2007)
Danielle Williams v. Jerry W. Williams, Jr.
Court of Appeals of Texas, 2007
State v. Eaves
800 S.W.2d 220 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
223 S.W.2d 694, 1949 Tex. App. LEXIS 2157, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/first-nat-bank-of-beaumont-v-howard-texapp-1949.