Shawan v. City Bank Farmers Trust Co.

21 Ohio Law. Abs. 432, 6 Ohio Op. 309, 1936 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 1168
CourtOhio Probate Court
DecidedApril 2, 1936
DocketNo 71124
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 21 Ohio Law. Abs. 432 (Shawan v. City Bank Farmers Trust Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Probate Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shawan v. City Bank Farmers Trust Co., 21 Ohio Law. Abs. 432, 6 Ohio Op. 309, 1936 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 1168 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1936).

Opinion

[433]*433In our opinion it will be necessary, or at least advisable, that we shall first discuss the second question raised by the petition.

Ferdinand Howald died March 29, 1934, a resident of and domiciled in the State of Ohio, leaving a last will and testament, which was duly probr-ted by the Probate Court of Franklin County, Ohio, and Robert F. Shawan was duly appointed and qualified as the executor of said last will and testament. The record discloses that the testator for a number of years was a resident of the state of New York, and while a resident of the state of New York on the 23th day of March, 1914, he executed a trust agreement with the City Bank Farmers Trust Company, by virtue of the terms of which he placed in the hands of said Trust Company a large number of securities, the income of which was to be paid to him during his lifetime. In lilis trust agreement he reserved the right to revoke or amend the same in whole or in part during his lifetime, and also to amend or revoke the same by a last will and testament. A number of amendments were made by him during his lifetime, the last of which was made on the fifth day of November, 1931. This last amendment of November 5, 1931, contains a restatement of all of the terms and conditions of the original trust agreement, and its amendments, so that as we now find it, this document dated November 5, 1931, contains the entire trust agreement as it existed prior to the death of Mr. Howald.

The provisions of the trust agreement dated November 5, 1931, by which he reserved the right to revoke or amend the Trust Agreement, either by an amendment executed by himself or by his last will, is contained in article third of such agreement, and reads as follows:

“THIRD: Said donor hereby reserves the right to amend or to revoke, in whole or in part, this instrument and the trusts created at any .time prior to the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred and thirty-six, by an instrument in writing signed by him and delivered to said trustee, and so far as this instrument is revoked at any time, said donor shall be entitled to receive from said trustee the funds then in its hands, or the funds as to which this instrument has been revoked, free and discharged of the trusts hereby created. Said donor hereby also reserves the right to amend or revoke, in whole or in part, this instrument and the trusts hereby created, by his last will and testament, but this instrument and the trusts hereby created shall not be amended or revoked, by said last will and testament unless said donor shall specifically and in terms so provide in his last will and testament, and then only to the extent that said last will and testament shall so specifically and in terms provide.”

On the 13th day of February 1933, Ferdinand Howald executed the will which has been probated in the Probate Court of Franklin County, Ohio, and under which his estate is now being administered. In Item No. 1 of said will the testator uses the following language:

“I have heretofore executed a trust agreement with the City Bank Farmers Trust Company, (formerly known as The Farmers’ Loan and Trust Company), trustee, dated March 28, 1914, which agreement has since been amended by agreements between said trustee and myself, under dates of October 30, 1924 and November 5, 1931, respectively. Under Article three of said trust agreements and amendment, dated November 5, 1931, it is provided:
“Said donor hereby also reserves the right to amend or revoke, in whole or in [434]*434par!., this instrument and the trusts hereby created, by his last will and testament, but this instrument and the trusts hereby created shall not be amended or revoked by said last will and testament unless said donor shall specifically and in ’tonos so provided in his last will and testament, and then only to the extent that said last will and testament shall so specifically and in terms provide."

It therefore becomes apparent it was the intention of the testator to make this trust agreement as amended on November 5, 1931, a part of his last will and testament. The law of Ohio provides that a testator may incorporate extraneous documents as a part of a will, provided the documents referred to are in existence at the time of making of a will, that the same are in writing, and that the original or a copy of same shall he deposited with the Prohate Court having jurisdiction over the will, within thirty days of the date of the probate thereof. This last requirement was not complied with by the testator. The documents however, were called to the attention of the court, were exhibited to the appraisers of the estate, were discussed with the court, and in our opinion there was a substantial compliance of the last above named requirement of the statute.

Upon an examination of the trust agreement and the recitals of the property included therein, it becomes apparent that the estate located in the State of New York and in the hands of the Trust Company consisted entirely of personal property. It is a well known and generally approved principle of law that the situs of personal property for the purpose of administration, is that of residence of the testator at the time of his death.

Inasmuch as the estate outside of Ohio consisted of personal property and the document referred to was in existence at the time of making the will, and was specifically referred to in the will, and that it was in writing, and that the same was called to the attention of the court, it is our opinion that the trust agreement as it existed on November 5, 1931 becomes and is a part of the will of Ferdinand Howald. The two documents therefore must be read together and considered in the light of each other.

In answering this second question presented, it will be necessary that we examine Article Seven of the original trust agreement, a portion of which reads as follows:

“SEVENTH: Anything hereinabove contained to the contrary nltwilhstanding, after the donor’s death the trustee shall pay out of the principal of the trust fund to the executor or administrator (hereinafter called “executor”) of the donor’s estate, such sum as such executor shall certify in writing delivered to the trustee to be necessary to pay in full all inheritance, estate, transfer, succession, probate, legacy and death taxes and duties, imposed by reason of the donor’s death upon or with respect to any real or personal property required to be included in the gross estate of the donor for the purpose of the determination of the amount of any such taxes or duties, and all interest upon any such taxes or duties. The trustees shall he absolutely protected in paying to such executor the amount so specified in such certificate, and shall be under no duty to inquire into the correctness of such certificate or to see to the application made by such executor of the sum so paid to such executor. The trustee shall make such payment out of that part of the principal of the trust fund which is disposed of by subdivision (g) of Article “Sixth” of this agreement.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
21 Ohio Law. Abs. 432, 6 Ohio Op. 309, 1936 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 1168, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shawan-v-city-bank-farmers-trust-co-ohprobct-1936.