Penfield's Trust

57 Pa. D. & C. 379, 1946 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 171
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County
DecidedNovember 14, 1946
Docketno. 10,407
StatusPublished

This text of 57 Pa. D. & C. 379 (Penfield's Trust) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Penfield's Trust, 57 Pa. D. & C. 379, 1946 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 171 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1946).

Opinion

Parry, J.,

The Provident Trust Company of Philadelphia and Joseph Carson, surviving trustees, have filed their fifteenth and final account of a trust under deed of Anne W. Penfield dated June 8, 1923, which has now terminated. The only question raised at the audit concerns the distribution of the balance now remaining in the trust fund, which is claimed by former beneficiaries of the trust, by the co-executor of the settlor’s estate and by the Chestnut Hill Hospital, a charity selected by the trustees pursuant to certain provisions in the deed of trust.

From the stipulation of facts submitted by counsel I make the following

Findings of fact

1. On June 8,1923, Anne W. Penfield executed and delivered a certain deed of trust for the benefit of sixteen named great nieces and great nephews, which is here incorporated by reference to the copy thereof contained in the stipulation of facts filed by counsel dated June 24, 1946.

2. Four of the named beneficiaries reached the age of 30 on or before August 25, 1928, and their respective shares were paid over to them as they fell due.

3. Jarvis Meirs, a named beneficiary, died on June 3,1930, not having attained the age of 30 and without leaving issue surviving him. No account was filed by the trustees at the time of his death but in the petition for confirmation of the fifth account filed by the trustees upon another beneficiary reaching the age of 30 on September 9, 1934, it was stated:

“That Jarvis Meirs, one of the beneficiaries in said deed of trust, died June 3, 1930, unmarried and without issue, not having attained the age of thirty (30) years, whereupon in accordance with the provision of [381]*381said deed of trust (see page 4 of the deed) the share held for the said Jarvis Meirs went to augment the balance held in trust for the surviving eleven beneficiaries.”

4. Notices have never been sent to any of the parties in which it was indicated that there might be a question in connection with the distributive share from which Jarvis Meirs enjoyed the income and any question which might arise in connection with the distribution of the share of Jarvis Meirs has not heretofore been raised or passed upon.

5. Ten of the other eleven beneficiaries reached the age of 30 on or before November 16, 1941, and their respective shares were paid over to them by the trustees as they fell due.

6. Peter Benson, the youngest and last of the named beneficiaries, died without issue on September 11, 1945, not having attained the age of 30 years, at which time income accruing to that date amounting to $433.34 was due him.

7. The following named beneficiaries have each received his or her distributive share of income and principal due upon attaining the age of 30 years: William Weightman Meirs; Marie Louise Faries Tutein; Emma Faries Oiler; Anne M. Taylor, since deceased; Fanny Cox Weightman Worral; Louise W. Strawbridge Hunsicker; Bertha Weightman Norton Jacobs; Martha Thomas Rogers Weightman Watkins; John Strawbridge, Jr.; Nathaniel Read Norton, Jr.; Perry Benson; George Strawbridge; William Strange Norton, 2nd; Richard Benson.

Discussion

The settlor, Anne W. Penfield, on June 8, 1923, executed an irrevocable deed inter vivos, creating a trust for the benefit of sixteen named great nieces and great nephews, directing her trustees to divide the [382]*382income among them and as each reached the age of 30 years to distribute to him or to her the share of principal upon which he or she had been receiving the income. In case of the death of a beneficiary under the age of 30 his or her issue are substituted as beneficiaries, to receive their share of principal on reaching the age of 21. If no such issue of a deceased beneficiary attain the age of 21 the deed directs that the share previously held for the deceased great nephew or great niece “shall go to augment the respective shares of the trust estate still held for the other and remaining great nieces and great nephews and issue as aforesaid of deceased great nieces and great nephews . . .”.

Finally the deed provides that if all the named beneficiaries die under 30 without leaving issue who shall attain the age of 21 years, the trustees shall assign and transfer the principal and all unpaid income of the trust estate to such charitable organizations and in such proportions as they may agree upon.

Fourteen of the sixteen named beneficiaries reached the age of 30 years and received their respective shares of principal. One, Jarvis Meirs, died in 1930 under the age of 30 and without issue whereupon his share of principal was used to augment the shares still held in the trust but no part of it was distributed to four beneficiaries who had previously reached the age of 30 years and had been paid off.

In 1945 Peter Benson, the last beneficiary, died under the age of 30 and without issue. All other beneficiaries having been paid off and no shares being “still held” in the trust estate, the question is what disposition should be made of the balance of principal on which he had been receiving the entire income at the time of his death.

Pointing to the provision for a gift over to charity, the trustees have selected the Chestnut Hill Hospital [383]*383and propose distribution to it. This proposal is disputed on the one hand by the co-executor of the settlor’s estate claiming a reverter to the estate and on the other by the settlor’s great nephews and great nieces who were beneficiaries of the trust, claiming that it should be divided among them.

I have no hesitation in reaching the conclusion that the contingency upon which the charitable gift depends did not occur: Not all but only two of the sixteen great nephews and great nieces named as beneficiaries of the trust died without issue under the age of 30. To construe all to mean any as urged by the accountant would be an unwarranted alteration of the deed, which is perfectly clear in this respect. Indeed such alteration would immediately lead to confusion for in case of the death of any but the last remaining beneficiary it would conflict with the express provision for the increase of the shares still held in trust for remaining beneficiaries.

The contest between the surviving great nephews and great nieces, and the settlor’s estate presents greater difficulty. The former invoke the principle that a gift over (here to charity) in case of the death of all of a number of income beneficiaries implies a gift in remainder to them (or their issue if so provided) if they in fact survive. The asserted obstacle to this construction is the express provision that the shares of great nephews and great nieces dying under 30 without issue who reach 21 “shall go to augment the respective shares of the trust estate still held for the other and remaining great nieces and great nephews and issue as aforesaid. . . .”. It is said that as no other shares are still held in the trust and there is no express gift in remainder to great nephews and great nieces the balance of principal must revert to the settlor’s estate.

[384]*384The test of whether cross-remainders will be implied seems to resolve itself into the determination of the question whether the settlor intended to dispose of the estate as a whole.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
57 Pa. D. & C. 379, 1946 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 171, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/penfields-trust-pactcomplphilad-1946.