McClure v. Abrams

194 P. 787, 114 Wash. 51, 1921 Wash. LEXIS 565
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 8, 1921
DocketNo. 16048
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 194 P. 787 (McClure v. Abrams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McClure v. Abrams, 194 P. 787, 114 Wash. 51, 1921 Wash. LEXIS 565 (Wash. 1921).

Opinion

Mitchell, J.

— Mary H. Abrams died in Seattle, Washington, on August 24, 1914, leaving a nonintervention will. Surviving her were her husband, their six children, and a number of grandchildren. The will was admitted to probate on August 31,1914. The first paragraph of the will describes a tract of land on Lake Union, King county, which she declared to be her separate property. The second paragraph of the will directs the payment of debts and funeral expenses-. The third paragraph, of the will is as follows:

“Third: I give and bequeath to my dear husband Robert Abrams (or if deceased, in his place and stead to my dear son Robert W. Abrams) and Joseph Allen Calwell, both of Seattle, Washington, or the survivor of them, to their or his heirs, executors and administrators, the real estate described in paragraph First hereof, to be held by them as trustees and as trustees only upon the following trusts: to cause said property to be sold within a period of time not exceeding five (5) years from the date of my decease, and to pay over the proceeds thereof or therefrom, with any accumulation or accumulations, to the following persons in the following proportions, to-wit:
“1. To my dear son Richard H. Abrams, one-seventh thereof. 2. To my dear son Robert W. Abrams one-seventh thereof. 3. To my dear son Norman B. Abrams one-seventh thereof. 4. To my dear daughter Mary Lawley of Boston, in the County of Suffolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one-seventh thereof. 5. To my dear daughter Violet O’Donnell of said Seattle one-seventh thereof. 6. To my dear daughter Mildred Abrams of said Seattle one-seventh thereof.
“The foregoing six (6) payments I direct my said trustees herein nominated to make forthwith to the beneficiaries named above as soon as funds come into their or his hands from the disposition, so as aforesaid hereinabove directed to be made of the said property described in paragraph Fii*st hereof.
[53]*53“7. To my grandchildren living at the time of my decease, a one-seventh interest therein, in equal pro7 portions, share and share alike, to each his or her proportionate share in said one-seventh interest, with the accumulation or accumulations thereof and therefrom, payment to he made thereof however only when each attains and as each attains the age of twenty-one (21) years and to that end I therefore authorize and direct my said trustees, or the survivor of them, their or his heirs, executors and administrators, to invest and reinvest the legacy and bequest given to them in trust for my said grandchildren by Section 7 of Article Third of this will, in sound investments, and I give to them as such trustees or the survivor of them their or his heirs, executors and administrators, full power and authority to sell both real estate and personal estate in which said interest or any part thereof may be invested or reinvested, at public auction or private sale and to sign and deliver instruments of transfer which may be legally necessary and proper. I direct that the purchaser or purchasers at any such sales both from my said executors or executor, trustee or trustees, or their survivor, shall not be required to see to the application of the purchase-money, and I also declare that the receipts of my executors or trustees or their survivor to all persons whatsoever for all moneys, securities or effects paid or delivered to such trustees or executors, or their survivors, shall exonerate the persons taking the same from all liability to see to the application of the moneys, securities or effects therein mentioned.”

Eobert Abrams and Joseph Allen Calwell, the persons named in the will, promptly made and filed their oaths of office as executors. An inventory sworn to by both of them was duly filed showing only the real property on Lake TTnion, described in paragraph one of the will. An appraisement of the property was made and filed. Later, an order was made and entered declaring notice to creditors had been duly given, that the inheritance tax due the state had been paid and [54]*54that the estate was solvent. Considerable friction soon arose and continued between Abrams and Cal-well as to the management of the estate, which was brought to the attention of the court, and finally on June 21, 1915, Calwell filed his written resignation

“as one of the executors of the estate of Mary H. Abrams, deceased, and hereby represents that the remaining executor, Robert Abrams, is in the position, and competent to complete the administration of said estate so far as the duties of an executor are required.”

On the same day, an order was entered accepting the resignation and relieving him from any further care as executor in the management of the estate. It was further adjudged to be unnecessary to appoint a successor of Calwell as co-executor.

It appears that, without the intervention of the court, a portion of the real estate mentioned in the inventory was sold for an amount wholly insufficient to pay the debts and charges against the estate. Thereafter, upon petition by Robert Abrams, the superior court ordered a sale of the remainder of the property and confirmed the sales made under the order. The order of sale and the orders confirming the sales were made over the objections of Yashta McClure who had succeeded to the rights of Robert W. Abrams, one of the children, in the estate by a conveyance from him. The orders were made over the objections of Calwell, also, who appeared therein on behalf of his wife, Mildred Calwell, and as a trustee under the will notwithstanding his resignation as an executor. The property was ordered to be sold, and it was. sold in four parcels, separately described and further designated in the petition and report of sales as parcels “A,” “B,” “C” and “D.” The order approving and confirming the sales of parcels “A” and “B” in the sums of $775 and $975 respectively was entered on February [55]*5513, 1920, from which order no appeal has been taken. The order approving and confirming the sales of parcels “0” and “D,” in the sums of $9,000 and $4,000 respectively, was signed in open court and entered on April 13,1920, whereupon Vashta McClure gave notice in open court of appeal which she has perfected.

There is no bill of exceptions or statement of facts in the case. For the purposes of the sale of the real estate, all of the grandchildren of the testatrix who were minors, were represented by a guardian ad litem. Subsequent to the filing of the petition for the sale and prior to making the sales, by order of the court, there was a re-appraisement of the property by parcels as follows: “A” $1,500, “B” $1,000, “C” $14,825 and “D” $7,688.

The petition to sell the property, consisting of the four parcels, was filed in November, 1919, more than five years after the death of the testatrix. The petition was for a sale at public auction. In substance, it recited the terms and conditions of the devise of the properties subject to indebtedness and charges of administering the trust; that, by means of a general depressed condition of the real estate market during the five years, the real estate could not have been sold without great sacrifice; that it had not been advisable to sell any portion thereof, although efforts had been made to sell at reasonable prices, without success; that much discontent exists between the respective devisees, a number of whom desire that the property be converted into cash and distributed according to the terms of the will; and that the property should be sold at public sale.

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Related

Hancock v. Muldoon
241 P. 684 (Washington Supreme Court, 1925)

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Bluebook (online)
194 P. 787, 114 Wash. 51, 1921 Wash. LEXIS 565, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcclure-v-abrams-wash-1921.