In re the Estate of Skidmore

148 Misc. 569, 266 N.Y.S. 312, 1933 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1266
CourtNew York Surrogate's Court
DecidedJuly 13, 1933
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 148 Misc. 569 (In re the Estate of Skidmore) 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 Skidmore, 148 Misc. 569, 266 N.Y.S. 312, 1933 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1266 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1933).

Opinion

Delehanty, S.

Testator died in 1882, leaving a widow, a daughter, a brother, two sisters and the issue of a living sister surviving him. His will was duly probated. The executors never judicially settled their accounts. They eventually turned over to trustees named in the will certain funds as the corpus of two trust funds provided for therein. The trustees rendered an interim account covering the period of their administration of the trusts from 1886 to 1920. On that accounting all parties then in being and interested in the fund were cited. A decree was entered in 1921 settling that account. The life estate having since terminated, the now pending accounting was instituted by the trustees to determine the proper distribution of the principal of the trust. On this accounting new parties have been cited who were not in being at the date of the first accounting and questions have been raised by them respecting the duty of the executors to account and thereby to fix the capital of the trusts. A further question concerns the effectiveness of the purported exercise of a power to appoint the recipients of the trust principal. This question occupied the attention of referee and counsel in major degree and will be first discussed.

Deceased by his will provided:

“ Secondly. And I give * * * the rest * * * of my estate * * * as follows:
“;3. One other equal undivided fourth part to my Executors, or those of them who may qualify and the survivors and survivor of them, in trust to receive the rents, issues and profits, interest and income thereof, and to apply the same to the use of my said wife, during her natural life, and after the decease of my said wife in trust to receive the rents, issues and profits, interest and income thereof, and apply the same to the use of my said daughter, during her natural life, and upon the death of the survivor of my said wife and daughter, to convey and transfer the same to my said daughter’s lawful issue then living, per stirpes and not per capita; and in case there shall be at the death of such survivor no such issue living, to convey and transfer the same to such relations of mine of the full blood, as my said daughter may by her last Will and Testament designate and appoint; and for want of such designation and appointment to convey and transfer the same to my brother and sisters then living, and the issue then hying of any deceased brother or sister per stirpes and not per capita, and
4. The remaining equal undivided fourth part to my Executors, or those of them who may qualify, and the survivors and survivor of them in trust to receive the rents, issues and profits, interest and income thereof, and apply the same to the use of my said daughter [572]*572during her natural life and upon her death to convey and transfer the same to the lawful issue of my said daughter then living, per stirpes and not per capita, but if there be no such issue then living, then upon the death of my said daughter in case my wife be living, to receive the rents, issues and profits, interest and income thereof, and apply the same to the use of my said wife during her natural life, and upon the death of my said wife, or upon the death of my said daughter, if she shall have outlived my said wife, to convey and transfer the same to such relations of mine, of the full blood, as my said daughter by her last Will and Testament may designate and appoint, and for want of such designation and appointment, to convey and transfer the same to my brother and sisters then living and the issue of any deceased brother or sister per stirpes and not per capita.”

* '{By will duly admitted to probate the daughter of deceased undertook to exercise the power so granted to her. Her will says:

“ Eleventh. As to the two-fourths of the residuary estate of my father Joseph R. Skidmore deceased over which I have power of appointment and carrying out my father’s wish I give and bequeath the same as follows that is to say
“1. Unto Gurnee Hinman Barrett the son of my cousin William S. Barnett the sum of One hundred thousand dollars In the event the said Gurnee Hinman Barrett shall die before me then I give and bequeath the said sum of One hundred thousand dollars unto his issue surviving me per stirpes and not per capita.
. j“ 2. Unto William Skidmore Barrett, Jr., son of my cousin William S. Barrett the sum of Ten thousand dollars In the event the said William Skidmore Barrett, Jr., shall die before me then I give and bequeath the said sum of Ten thousand dollars unto his issue surviving me per stirpes and not per capita.
3. All the rest residue and remainder of the said two-fourths parts of the said residuary estate of my father Joseph R. Skidmore deceased over which I have power of appointment including any of the legacies given in the foregoing subdivisions 1 and 2 of this eleventh clause which may lapse I give and bequeath unto the seven grandchildren of iny cousin William S. Barrett that is to say Gurnee Hinman Barrett Jr. and Mary Barrett children of Gurnee Hinman Barrett William Skidmore Barrett 3rd son of William Skidmore Barrett Jr. and Joseph Russell Barrett Harold Birdsall Barrett Bertram Jackson Barrett and Lucy Skidmore Barrett children of J. Russell Barrett deceased share and share alike and unto the survivors or survivor of them except as hereinafter provided and further provided however that if either of the said grandchildren of my said cousin William S. Barrett shall die before me leaving issue [573]*573surviving me then I give and bequeath the share the one so dying would have taken if living unto his or her issue per stirpes and not per capita.”

The brother and sisters of testator having predeceased the donee of the power (but issue of a sister having survived the donee), the problem now is presented whether the distribution directed by her appointment is valid in whole or in part or whether the class of permissible appointees has faded.

The referee has held that the power was validly exercised in so far as selection of appointees is concerned but that no right resided in the donee to discriminate as to benefit conferred on her appointees and has held that each appointee takes an equal portion of the fund. The referee reached this conclusion because of the language of sections 98 and 99 of part 2, chap. 1, tit. 2, art 3. of the Revised Statutes which were in effect at testator’s death. These sections provided:

: Sec. 98. Where a disposition under a power is directed to be made to, or among or between several persons, without any specification of the share or sum to be allotted to each, all the persons designated, shall be entitled to an equal proportion.
Sec. 99. But when the terms of the power import that the estate or fund is to be distributed between the persons so designated, in such manner or proportions as the trustee of the power may think proper, the trustee may allot the whole to any one or more of such persons, in exclusion of the others.”

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Bluebook (online)
148 Misc. 569, 266 N.Y.S. 312, 1933 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1266, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-estate-of-skidmore-nysurct-1933.