In re the Appraisal of the Estate of Cole

202 A.D. 546, 195 N.Y.S. 541, 1922 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4932
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedJuly 21, 1922
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 202 A.D. 546 (In re the Appraisal of the Estate of Cole) 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 the Appraisal of the Estate of Cole, 202 A.D. 546, 195 N.Y.S. 541, 1922 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4932 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1922).

Opinion

Rich, J.:

The testator died on February 27, 1920, leaving a last will and testament which has been admitted to probate in Dutchess county. Prior to his death the testator entered into certain trust agreements with his son, Philip Gillett Cole, dated respectively May 22, 1917, and February 2, 1920. The original trust agreement between testator and his son provides for a Ufe estate to the latter, but the right of revocation upon one year’s notice was reserved to the settlor. The second agreement, entered into on February 2, 1920, provided for the elimination of paragraph 10 of the first agreement, made the trust absolute, and also provided for a power of appointment over the remainder to Philip Gillett Cole, provided he survived his father. The first agreement, paragraph 7 thereof, provided that if PhiUp Gillett Cole should predecease the testator, or in case of the revocation by testator, the property, the subject of the trust, should revert to his (testator’s) estate. By the agreement of February 2, 1920, in place of paragraph 6, a provision was substituted providing for a life estate to PhiUp Gillett Cole, and upon his death, provided he survives the testator, a power of appointment over the remainder. In place of paragraph 8 of the original agreement, which was eliminated, provisions for the appointment of successor trustees, in the event of testator’s death, were made.

The testator’s will, among other things, provided as follows: to hold the same in trust and to receive the net income of said trust and to pay over the net income thereof to my said daughter Virginia Garber Cole, for and during her natural life, and upon the death of my said daughter Virginia Garber Cole to deUver and pay over the principal of said trust unto such persons and corporations, and in such shares, interests and proportions as she shaU in and by her last wiU and testament in that behalf appoint, and in case she shall leave no such valid appointment, then to her issue surviving her according to their stocks, and in case no issue surviving her, then to her next of kin surviving her according to then stocks.” The residuary estate was bequeathed to trustees in trust, to pay the net income to my son PhiUp Gillett Cole for and during his natural life, and upon the death of my said son PhiUp Gillett Cole, to deliver and pay over the principal of said trust unto such persons and corporations, and in such shares, interests and proportions as he shall in and by his last will and testament in that behalf appoint and in case he shall leave no such valid appointment, then to his issue surviving him according to their stocks,”

It is the contention of the appellant: (1) That the language of the will renders taxable in this proceeding the remainders of the trust fund over which Virginia Garber Cole and PhiUp, Gillett [548]*548Cole are vested with powers of appointment; (2) that the language of the trust agreements renders now taxable in this proceeding the life estate of Philip Gillett Cole in the trust fund, because the trust agreement was a transfer intended to take effect in possession or enjoyment at or after death, as the trust agreements provide that in case the son should predecease the father all of the trust property should revert to the latter; (3) that the remainder of the trust under the trust agreements, after the termination of the life estate of Philip Gillett Cole, and over which he has a power of appointment, is taxable because there was no completed gift of this remainder until the son survived the father, and that, therefore, the transfer of this remainder by the trust agreements was a transfer intended to take effect in possession or enjoyment at or after death.

As to the last two contentions of the appellant, the learned acting surrogate has held that the trust agreement was not a bounty or benefaction, but rested upon a mutual consideration, was enforcible by the son, and as such, not within the contemplation of the act relating to taxable transfers. In reference to the first two contentions of the appellant he has held that it is the exercise of a power of appointment, and not the creation of a power which effects the transfer which the statute makes taxable, and that, therefore, the remainders under these trust funds are not presently taxable until the exercise of the power.

In reference to the trust agreement, it seems to be the contention of the appellant that there is no consideration shown therefor and that the situation after the first, and even after the second agreement, was really a tentative trust, not unlike that exemplified by Matter of Totten (179 N. Y. 112), the familiar savings bank trust. The circumstances surrounding the execution of this agreement, however, indicate that the trust agreements were the result of some sort of an understanding between father and son. It seems that the testator was the owner of about 2,200 shares of stock in the corporation known as A. Schrader’s Son, Inc. In 1912 or 1913 testator and his wife became estranged and he expressed a desire to have his son, who resided in Montana, come to live with him and to help him in the business of the company, of which he was substantially the owner. It seems that testator’s son had spent one year in the employ of the Schrader Company, but as he did not like the business and desired to study medicine he left, and after his graduation went to Montana where he practiced medicine until the spring of 1917, when he received a telegram from his father to come to New York. It is shown that as a result of" his visit, testator proposed to transfer half of his interest in the Schrader Company to the son, if the latter would give up [549]*549the practice of medicine, return to New York and re-enter the business. The son says he agreed to do this, and that at that time (May 22, 1917) the original trust agreement was executed. He later served as a surgeon in France, from which he returned in April, 1919, at which time the testator agreed to arrange for a permanent trust, but in the meantime desired to be assured that he, the son, would go into the business and stay there. He says after his return from France he went to Montana, closed up his office, disposed of his possessions, returned to New York after his marriage and entered actively into the business of A. Schrader’s Son, Inc., in July, 1919, since which time he has been acting as director and vice-president of the company. He says that thereafter, and on February 2, 1920, the instrument making the trust permanent was executed. He also says that he has not since practiced medicine and at the time he closed up his affairs in Montana he was earning something around $8,000 a year. He says he also had some difficulty in persuading his wife, whose home was in Montana, to live in New York.

Since the decision in Hamer v. Sidway (124 N. Y. 538) it has uniformly been held that the giving up of a legal right at the request of another party is a sufficient consideration for the promise made to him. The son had a right to live in Montana, and to practice medicine, his chosen profession. Those rights he abandoned upon the strength of the testator’s promise embodied in the trust agreement, that for such forbearance he would provide for him a certain income, and further provided that he might dispose of the remainder of said trust as he (the son) in his last will and testament might appoint. As the court said in Hamer v. Sidway (supra),

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Bluebook (online)
202 A.D. 546, 195 N.Y.S. 541, 1922 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4932, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-appraisal-of-the-estate-of-cole-nyappdiv-1922.