Melson Estate

27 Pa. D. & C.2d 66, 1962 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 306
CourtPennsylvania Orphans' Court, Philadelphia County
DecidedMarch 12, 1962
Docketno. 1462 of 1935
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 27 Pa. D. & C.2d 66 (Melson Estate) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Orphans' Court, Philadelphia County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Melson Estate, 27 Pa. D. & C.2d 66, 1962 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 306 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1962).

Opinion

Lefever, J.,

Mary C. Melson died July 11, 1934, leaving a will dated May 14, 1909, and codicils thereto dated June 15, 1912, March 15, 1929, October 23, 1930 and November 3, 1932, respectively, which were duly probated in the Office of the Register of Wills of Philadelphia County on August 7, 1934.....

In the tenth and eleventh paragraphs of testatrix’ will, “after the death or remarriage” of her husband, (and he predeceased her), she left her residuary estate to her trustees for the purpose of erecting and establishing “The Jacob M. Long Memorial Home” in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, or its suburbs as “a charitable home for worthy persons of means insufficient for their comfortable maintenance and support.” In [68]*68the eighth paragraph of her will, te the property 14-16 North Queen to the trustees of the Jacob M. Long St: statrix also gave reet, Lancaster, Memorial Home.

By adjudication, dated September 20, 1950, Judge Klein adopted in the main the adjudication drafted by Judge Ladner prior to his elevation to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Therein, the balances of principal and income amounting to $83,699.65, with any additional collections of income, were awarded back to John Shahedy, trustee, for the establishment and maintenance of The Jacob M. Long Memorial Home, subject to the payment of $10,000 as provided in an agreement, dated June 26, 1950, to certain next of kin of decedent. Recognizing that some 16 years had elapsed since testatrix’ death and that the trustee had not yet founded and established the charitable Home, the court ordered the trustee to report the plans and intentions of said trustee for the erection of a Home, the estimates of cost, operation, maintenance, etc., “all to be first reported to this Court within a period of six months.” The adjudication further recited that “if need be, the Court might necessarily appoint an Amicus Curiae, with powers of a Master, to take testimony and formally report his findings and recommendations in respect to the establishment of said Home and/or the application of the funds under the doctrine of cy pres to some worthy and qualifying institution already established which meets with or approximates the charitable intents and purposes of the testatrix. These latter provisions are now referred to by the Court in that it is not unmindful that the maintenance and operation of a charitable Home today, especially in view of rising costs of materials, costs of living, etc., is a stupendous task.”

On June 21, 1951, the present auditing judge (Judge Ladner’s successor), not having received any [69]*69report from the trustee, John Shahedy, concerning his plans and intentions for the erection of the home, etc., appointed Charles F. Nahill, Esq., amicus curiae, with the powers which are more specifically set forth in the decree of his appointment.

The amicus curiae held extensive hearings and ultimitely filed a report in which he concluded, inter alia, that the proposed plans of the trustee to establish and operate a home, such as were set forth in the testatrix’ will, were unworkable and unfeasible; that none of the claimant charitable institutions who appeared before him were qualified to receive the fund under the doctrine of cy pres for the reason, inter alia, that, except for Christ’s Home, the claimants accepted only women as guests, whereas testatrix’ will provided for “worthy persons”, which the amicus curiae construed to mean both male and female guests; that Christ’s Home, located in Paradise, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, was used exclusively for the care and maintenance of children; and that the identity of the Mel-son bequest would be lost if the income from the fund were awarded to any of the claimants. The amicus curiae recommended that the court, under its power of cy pres, award the income from the testatrix’ estate for a temporary period of five years, one-half to the Henry G. Long Asylum and the other one-half to the Ann C. Witmer Home, for the care of guests not now residing in either of said homes; that such funds should be used solely and exclusively for the care and maintenance of such additional guests and not for any other purpose, and, in the event that either The Henry G. Long Asylum or the Ann C. Witmer Home should be unwilling or unable to accept the income under such conditions, that the entire income should be awarded to the one accepting, and if neither accepted, to accumulate the income for the period of five years, pending further action by the court at the ex[70]*70piration of such time, or sooner, if conditions and circumstances should warrant.

In adjudication filed May 12, 1955, the present auditing judge decided not to adopt the recommendations of the amicus curiae in entirety, but directed that the corpus of the estate should be held intact and the income accumulated for a period of five years, reserving final disposition of the fund for that period of time. . . .

Exceptions were filed to said adjudication by the Witmer Home, the Long Asylum and the trustee.

The court en banc, per Judge Bolger, dismissed all exceptions pro forma, without prejudice to “permit re-application by the exceptants if the future course of the litigation in this estate warrants such action.”

The court was critical of the trustee’s efforts to carry into effect the intention of the testatrix, stating:

“In this respect the trustee has been conspicuously derelict in failing to make a complete investigation and presentation to the amicus curiae of the needs of the people of Lancaster respecting the testatrix’ purpose as to the present thinking and development of public and private authorities in the care of aging persons, or of any program in substance or form that would be the basis for an intelligent judgment by the amicus curiae and by the Auditing Judge.”

The court then suggested a number of possible uses for the trust funds consistent with the expressed wishes of the testatrix. In conclusion, the exceptions were dismissed'pro forma, and the record was returned to the auditing judge, at his request, for further investigation and consideration in accordance with the suggestions of the court, and such other possibilities as might develop.

The amicus curiae, at the direction of the auditing judge, thoroughly explored every one of the sugges[71]*71tions which appeared in the opinion of the court en banc. He made further extensive investigation. He had numerous conferences with various interested parties. He held additional hearings. There is no need to repeat here what appears fully in the third report of the amicus curiae. Suffice to say, none of the suggested plans proved workable.

In the course of his investigation, the amicus curiae learned that under the will of Jacob S. Peacock, deceased, a trust was created, of which Fulton National Bank of Lancaster is trustee. The purpose of that trust is to establish a home for aged men and women of Lancaster on a specific site in Lancaster County. The corpus of this fund is in excess of half a million dollars. Nonetheless, this fund, as in the instant case, is insufficient to establish the charitable institution described in the Peacock will. The amicus curiae suggested to the auditing judge the possibility of an amalgamation of these two trusts and the substantial accomplishment of the purposes of both.

At this point, Lois G. Forer, Esq., Deputy Attorney General, specially charged with the duties of the attorney general as parens patriae in charitable trusts, entered the picture. Mrs.

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Bluebook (online)
27 Pa. D. & C.2d 66, 1962 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 306, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/melson-estate-paorphctphilad-1962.