In re the Estate of Erickson

113 Misc. 10
CourtNew York Surrogate's Court
DecidedAugust 15, 1920
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 113 Misc. 10 (In re the Estate of Erickson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Surrogate's Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re the Estate of Erickson, 113 Misc. 10 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1920).

Opinion

Cohalan, S.

This is a proceeding under section 2615 of the Code of Civil Procedure for the construction of the will of the decedent. The will was admitted to probate December 24, 1918. The testator was survived by his widow, Clara C. Erickson, three daughters, Adelaide, Muriel and Isabel, the issue of testator’s first marriage, a son, William Thome Erickson, 2d, the issue of testator’s marriage with the petitioner, Clara C. Erickson, and a stepdaughter, Ethel Griffiths, a child of tbe petitioner by a former marriage. All of the above named children are infants, and, together with the petitioner, are all of the beneficiaries [12]*12named in the will. The testator’s wife was bequeathed the income on an investment of $100,000, with no express bequest of the remainder in said fund. A bequest of $15,000 was made to the stepdaughter, Ethel Griffiths, the principal to be held in trust and the income and, if necessary, part of thé principal, to be applied to her education, maintenance and support; if she marries with the approval of one of two persons named before she reaches the age of twenty-five she is then to receive $5,000 cash, and to continue to have applied the income on the balance, until she reaches said age of twenty-five, when she is to receive the balance of the principal sum. There follows in the 4th paragraph an involved provision for the three daughters of testator and the petitioner, which is one of the chief grounds of contention between the different parties hereto. The trustee is directed to pay thirty-five per cent of the income of the estate to the grandmother of the three girls, to be divided by her into three equal parts, for the education, support and maintenance of each girl so long as the grandmother believes they are leading proper lives. As each girl marries, she is to receive outright in cash a sum equal to ten per cent of the principal represented by one-third of the thirty-five per cent income. Under certain conditions, the survivor or survivors of the three girls takes an additional interest, and if either of the girls dies leaving children, the children are to take the income of the share that the mother was getting. The 6th paragraph directs that the residue be held in trust for William Thorne Erickson, 2d, the child of testator and" the petitioner. Twenty-five per cent of the income of the estate is to be held in a separate fund for his education, support and maintenance, until he attains his majority, when he is to receive one-third of “ his interest in the principal of the estate,” the bal[13]*13anee to be held and paid over to him when he attains the age of thirty-five years. In case he dies before he becomes thirty-five years of age, provision is made for life estates to each of the three daughters with remainders to their issue. If the son marries and has children and then dies before he receives all his estate, his children are to receive all that he would have taken. In the event of his death without issue before he receives his entire legacy and devise, his wife is to receive “ a life income equal to one-third of the income of my son’s share in my entire estate, but, if she remarries, she loses her entire interest.” The New York Trust Company is named as executor and trustee and, in case of its failure to qualify, the Farmers’ Loan and Trust Company is designated.

The first question is the disposition of the corpus of the trust created for the benefit of the widow. She is entitled to receive the income from a fund of $100,000, to be invested by the trustees in Liberty bonds or other similar investments as directed by the will. As the trust is clearly limited by her life, we have a ease where a trust is created for a life, but with no express disposition of the remainder. If there were no general residuary clause, no doubt the entire fund would vest in the widow, upon the principle that a bequest of income generally with no mention of the remainder constitutes an absolute bequest. But this rule applies only to a case where the will or instrument creating the trust is silent as to its duration and where upon examination of the purposes, objects and necessities of the trust it is found that the intention was to vest absolute ownership. Locke v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co., 140 N. Y. 135; Hatch v. Bassett, 52 id. 359; Matter of Dibble, 76 Misc. Rep. 413. In Matter of Farmer, 99 Misc. Rep. 437, 443, the residuary clause expressly excluded the twenty-nine shares of stock in question. [14]*14In the will before the court, there is a specific limitation of the trust upon the life of Clara Erickson. As was said in the Locke Case, supra, 146: 1 ‘ The trustee always takes the legal title, but only such as is required by the scope and extent of the trust itself; and, where that continues but for a life, only a commensurate legal estate passes, and the fee in the land subject to the trust, and the principal of a fund subject to the life use remain undisposed of or pass elsewhere.” In the instant case the corpus of this particular trust passes elsewhere, namely, under the general residuary clause in favor of the son. Lamb v. Lamb, 131 N. Y. 227; Leggett v. Stevens, 185 id. 70; Matter of Allen, 188 App. Div. 867.

I am of the opinion that the provision for Ethel Griffiths in the third paragraph constitutes an absolute bequest; the principal and income to be applied to her use, and the enjoyment of principal to be postponed as directed in the will. Though the will commences with a statement that the testator gives all his property in trust, the language of the third paragraph is sufficiently clear and specific to indicate an intention to vest in the stepdaughter the entire principal and income with enjoyment of principal deferred. In no other part of the will (except the general gift to the trustees) did the testator use such words of direct gift as “ I give, devise and bequeath to my stepdaughter Ethel Griffiths the sum of fifteen thousand ($15,000) dollars * * . Whatever his intention in the bequest of all his estate to his trustees in the first paragraph, he used words that were clear and unambiguous in his bequest to Ethel Griffiths in the third paragraph. Though the residuary clause is broad enough to include property unbequeathed in other portions of the will, the fact that the testator provided for gifts over in some parts of the will and did not do so in the [15]*15paragraph making provision for the stepdaughter is significant, and is a further indication that he intended the gift to Ethel Griffiths to be absolute. Fulton Trust Co. v. Phillips, 218 N. Y. 573; Vanderpoel v. Loew, 112 id. 167, 381; dissenting opinion by Judge Cullen in Dickerson v. Sheehy, 209 id. 592.

The 4th paragraph of the will is as follows:

“ Fourth: I direct that thirty-five (35%) per cent, of the income of the estate be paid to Minnie F. Hirsch, of the City of New York, as trustee, and I direct that said sum be by her divided into three (3) equal parts, and I direct that one of said equal parts be by said Minnie F. Hirsch applied for the education, support and maintenance of each one of my three daughters, Adelaide, Muriel and Isabel, share and share alike, so long as she considers they are continuing to live under proper surroundings and leading proper lives. As each one of the three girls marries-, she is to receive an outright payment in cash of a sum of money equal to ten per cent, of the principal represented by one-third of the thirty-five per cent, income.

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Bluebook (online)
113 Misc. 10, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-estate-of-erickson-nysurct-1920.