In re the Judicial Settlement of the Account of Proceedings of Ziegler

11 Mills Surr. 15, 82 Misc. 10, 143 N.Y.S. 682
New York Surrogate's Court·Decided July 15, 1913·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

Cohalan, S.

The executors and trustees under the last will of the decedent having filed in this court an account of their proceedings, objections thereto were filed by George W. Brandt, a contingent remainderman, upon the following grounds: First, that the income from the estate should not be kept separate, but should be added to the corpus; second, that the unexpended balance of income was not payable to William Ziegler when he arrived at the age of twenty-one, but that it became a part of the corpus of the estate and is to be disposed of in the manner provided for the payment and distribution ofHhe corpus.

William Ziegler, the cestui que trust and residuary legatee under the will of the decedent, objects to the account upon the ground that the sum of $332,384.31 has been charged by the trustees against income instead of against capital.

A proper disposition of the objections raised by Brandt [17] requires a construction of the following provisions of decedent’s will: “ 5. All the rest and residue of my estate I give, devise and bequeath to my son William, after and subject to the following provisions: 6. I appoint my said wife, William S. Champ, William J. Gaynor and also my said son, at the age of twenty-one years, my executors under this will. They shall take, care for and invest my estate in safe securities, collect all the rents and incomes, pay out of the same all necessary charges and expenses and all annuities or sums given by this will, and also for the support and education of my son William what may be necessary. The balance of income they shall invest in safe securities and keep with the corpus of my estate until my said son comes twenty-one years of age. After he comes of age he shall receive the entire net income. When he comes twenty-five years of age they shall turn over to him another one-quarter of’the said corpus. They shall turn over to him another quarter thereof at the age of thirty, another at the age of thirty-five and the last quarter at the age of forty. If he should die before me without lawful issue or before he gets the said corpus, then the corpus, or the part of it he has not received, to go to my brothers and sisters and their heirs.”

While there is no direction in paragraph 6 to pay the entire balance of accumulated income to his son William when he arrives at the age of twenty-one, the gift of the rest and residue of the estate contained in paragraph 5 necessarily includes the income produced by such residue, except as limited by the provisions of the succeeding paragraph. That paragraph provides that only so much of the income as may be necessary for his support and education shall be paid to him until he arrives at the age of twenty-one, but that the balance shall be accumulated • and invested until that time. When that time arrives there is no further restriction placed upon his right to the possession of the accumulated income, and he immediately becomes entitled to it. If the testator did not intend to give the accumulated in[18] come to his son when he arrived at the age of twenty-one it would be unnecessary for him to add to the words “ the balance of income they shall invest in safe securities and keep with the corpus of my estate ” the qualifying clause “ until my said son comes twenty-one years of age.” Without the latter clause it would be clear that the testator intended that the accumulated income should become part of the corpus of the estate, to be paid in the manner provided for the disposition of the corpus; but -by adding “ until my said son comes twenty-one years of age ” the testator clearly indicated that the accumulated income was not to become a part of the corpus and paid to his son at the times and in the proportion prescribed by that part of the will disposing of the corpus. Besides, the testator does not say that the accumulated income shall form a part of the corpus of the estate or that it shall be intermingled with the trust funds, but that it shall be kept with the corpus of the estate; that is, retained by the trustees with the corpus of the estate until the time for payment arrives. But the income of a trust estate which has been accumulated during the minority of a life beneficiary cannot be added to the corpus when such beneficiary reaches his majority and thereafter held in trust with the principal of the trust fund, but such accumulation must be paid to the beneficiary upon his attaining his majority. Tweddell v. New York Life Ins. & Trust Co., 82 Hun, 602. As the testator did not intend that the accumulated income should become part of the corpus he «must have intended that it should be paid to his son when he attained his maj ority.

While a trust for the accumulation of income during the minority of testator’s son and for his benefit would be valid (Real Prop. Law, § 61; Per. Prop. Law, § 16), a trust for accumulation which would not be payable to the testator’s son immediately upon his attaining his majority, but which would be held by the trustees after the termination of such minority and payable to adults in the event of the cestui que trust dying [19] before reaching the age of twenty-five, would be void as to that portion which directed the retention of the accumulations in the hands of the trustees after the minority of the beneficiary and their payment to adults. Per. Prop. Law, § 16, subd. 3; Barbour v. De Forest, 95 N. Y. 13; Pray v. Hegeman, 92 id. 508. Even if the will were construed so as to hold that there is no provision made for the payment of the accumulated income, it would nevertheles go to the person entitled to the next eventual estate, namely, the testator’s son. Duncklee v. Butler, 38 App. Div. 99. Accumulations vest in a minor immediately, and if he die during his minority the accumulations become a part of his estate. Smith v. Campbell, 75 Hun, 155; Smith v. Parsons, 146 N. Y. 116. It is therefore evident that the income accumulated by the trustees during the minority of testator’s son, William Ziegler, should be paid to him when he arrived at the age of twenty-one.

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In re the Judicial Settlement of the Account of Proceedings of Ziegler, 11 Mills Surr. 15, 82 Misc. 10, 143 N.Y.S. 682 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1913).

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