In re Buttner

215 A.D. 62, 213 N.Y.S. 268, 1925 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5365
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedDecember 23, 1925
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 215 A.D. 62 (In re Buttner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Buttner, 215 A.D. 62, 213 N.Y.S. 268, 1925 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5365 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1925).

Opinion

Young, J.

Amanda F. Buttner, the decedent and testatrix, died a resident of Westchester county on November 6, 1922, leaving a will prepared by her attorney which was dated and executed on November 4, 1922, two days prior to her death, and which will was admitted to probate by the surrogate of Westchester county on December 6, 1922.

The decedent did not leave her surviving a husband, but left her surviving a son, Henry O. Buttner, the petitioner and appellant herein, her sole heir at law and next of kin.

The portion of decedent’s will which concerns us upon this appeal is as follows:

Second. I give, devise and bequeath all the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, real, personal or mixed, wheresoever situated, whereof I may die seized or possessed, or to which I may be in any manner entitled, or in which I may be interested at the time of my death unto my trustees hereinafter named, as trustees, in trust nevertheless, for the uses and purposes hereinafter provided, with full power to collect the rents, income and profits therefrom and to sell and dispose of the same at public or private sale at such time and in such manner as they shall deem best; to lease, release, mortgage, grant, alien, bargain, sell, convey and assure the same at such times and in such manner as to them [64]*64shall seem fit and necessary, and after paying my just debts, funeral expenses, taxes and other administration charges, to administer and distribute the rest and residue then remaining as follows:

“ 1. To pay over to my grand-daughter, Helen Buttner, when she reaches the age of twenty-five years, the sum of five hundred dollars, absolutely and forever.

“2. To invest and reinvest the rest and remainder, and, after the deduction of necessary charges, to pay over, semi-annually, or oftener, in their discretion, one-third of the then net income, rents or profits thereon, to my beloved sister Bertha Schroeder, during the term of her natural life; one-third to my son Henry O. Buttner, during the term of his natural life, and the remaining one-third of said net income to Emma M. Johnson, who was formally, though not legally, adopted by my late husband, Henry Buttner, and myself when she was about two years of age, and an orphan, was christened and confirmed at our request by the name of Emma Madeline Buttner, and who was brought up, treated as and looked upon and known generally as our daughter, and who has been a true, loving and dutiful daughter to us and especially to me in my declining years, to her own use and benefit during the term of her natural life.

" Third. Should one of the said life beneficiaries predecease me, and at the death of any one thereof, I hereby direct my said trustees to pay over the said net income, rents or profits equally to the survivors, share and share alike, during the term of their natural lives.

“ Fourth. At the death of any two of the said life beneficiaries, leaving but one thereof surviving, I direct my said trustees to divide the residue of my said estate then remaining into two equal parts, and to distribute and pay over one of said parts equally amongst Fred C. Furcht, son of said Emma M. Johnson, Dorothea E. Wurm and Beatrice E. Wurm, daughters of my nephew August C. Wurm, any issue of my nephew, Henry George Wurm and of my nephews George Moeller and William Moeller, equally, share and share alike. Should any of said persons predecease leaving them issue surviving at the time of such distribution, then and in that event, said issue is to take the share that the parent would have taken if living.

“Fifth. Upon the said event, I direct my said trustees to pay over the net income, rents and profits upon the other one-half to the surviving life beneficiary during the term of said beneficiary’s natural life.

Sixth. At the death of the last survivor of the three life beneficiaries aforesaid, I direct my said trustees to pay over and dis[65]*65tribute the rest and residue of my estate then remaining and all accumulations thereon equally amongst the persons named in the ‘ Fourth ’ paragraph of this my Will in the same proportion, shares and manner as therein provided.

Seventh. Should any of the bequests or provisions in this my Will contained lapse according to law by reason of the death of any person or persons entitled to take under said Will, or for any other reason, without a proper direction herein as to how such interest or provision should pass, then and in that event, I order and direct that such interests or provisions shall pass into my residuary estate and become part thereof and be administered and distributed as provided in the sixth paragraph of this my Will.”

The surrogate decided that the testatrix created three separate trusts of her residuary estate for the beneficiaries therein named, each of one-third thereof; that upon the death of the first of said beneficiaries each of the two surviving beneficiaries will be entitled to income equally on the principal for life; that upon the death of each of said two surviving beneficiaries the trust as to one-half of the principal will terminate and be payable to the remaindermen specifically named in the will or their issue, and the issue of the named nephews of decedent or their issue, who survive at the termination of each of the trust periods; and that if none survives intestacy will result. (125 Misc. 224.)

At the time of the execution of the testatrix’s will and at her death the three named remaindermen, to wit, Fred C. Furcht, Beatrice E. Wurm and Dorothea Wurm, were and still are living. At that time, and at the time of the institution of this proceeding, decedent’s nephew William Moeller had and now has one child, William Moeller, Jr. Since the decedent’s death a child, Roberta Wurm, was born to the decedent’s nephew Henry George Wurm, which is his only issue. Neither at the decedent’s death nor at the present time has the decedent’s nephew George Moeller any child or issue.

Counsel for appellant insists that the construction of the will made by the surrogate is contrary to the clearly expressed intention of the testatrix and violates well-established rules of construction in similar cases. It is pointed out that the testatrix does not direct the payment of the income from a one-third share to each of the three beneficiaries, but does direct the payment of one-third of the income from the whole fund to each of the three beneficiaries. Whatever this fund in its entirety earned, each beneficiary was to have one-third until, of course, one beneficiary died. When this happened, the testatrix made no division of the fund, but [66]*66provided by .the 3d paragraph of her will that the net income from the fund should be paid equally to the beneficiaries living until the death of the second beneficiary. It is argued by appellant’s counsel that this shows a clear intention on the part of the testatrix that the trust fund should be regarded as one trust at least until the death of the second beneficiary.

In Leach v. Godwin (198 N. Y. 35)" the rule of construction in regard to separate trust funds is stated as follows:

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Bluebook (online)
215 A.D. 62, 213 N.Y.S. 268, 1925 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5365, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-buttner-nyappdiv-1925.