Silverman Trust

9 Pa. D. & C.2d 197, 1957 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 228
CourtPennsylvania Orphans' Court, Philadelphia County
DecidedMarch 1, 1957
Docketno. 2448 of 1945
StatusPublished

This text of 9 Pa. D. & C.2d 197 (Silverman Trust) 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
Silverman Trust, 9 Pa. D. & C.2d 197, 1957 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 228 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1957).

Opinions

Bolger, J.,

The exceptions, which are the subject of this review, are to the readjudication of the learned auditing judge. Following the argument on exceptions to the first adjudication, it appeared that certain questions had not been raised before the auditing judge with the result that the case was returned to him at his request for further consideration.

On December 2, 1926, at Philadelphia, Abraham Silverman, now deceased, created two identical irrevocable deeds of trust in both of which he named his wife, Helen, trustee of the proceeds of two insurance policies upon his life. He died at Philadelphia January 16, 1927. He directed the income therefrom should be paid in equal shares to their two children, Malcolm and Audrey, for their respective lives and that one half of the principal be paid to Malcolm at the age of 30 years. As the terms of the two trusts were identical, they were from the start consolidated and treated as one. Malcolm attained the age of 30 years in 1952 and received one half of the principal. The trust continued for the benefit of Audrey, who died intestate in New York City, October 12, 1955, survived only by her mother, her husband and her brother, Malcolm. The trust has terminated and the principal is now payable “to the heirs of the said Audrey Silverman surviving her”.

In 1931 the settlor’s wife and children changed their domicile to New York. From the inception of the trust, the trustee has employed The Pennsylvania Company for Insurances on Lives and Granting Annuities, now The First Pennsylvania Banking and Trust Company, as her agent and custodian of the funds which consist presently of stocks, bonds and mortgages on Pennsylvania real estate.

Audrey’s mother, now Helen S. Rosenfield, claims half of the funds. Audrey’s surviving husband, Rich[199]*199ard Stanfield, claims not only half of the funds, but a priority of the $10,000 allowance under section 2' of the Pennsylvania Intestate Act of April 24, 1947, P. L. 80, 20 PS §1.2. The learned auditing judge ruled that the membership of the class of “heirs” is to be determined by the law of Pennsylvania. He, however, awarded one half of the estate each to the mother and to the surviving husband, dismissing the latter’s claim for $10,000 allowance on the ground that the Intestate Act (without designating which one) was only applicable for the purpose of determining the identity of the heirs. At the argument on exceptions to the first adjudication, the auditing judge orally extended his application of the act to the determination of the fractional shares, but not the quantum of them. We are now passing upon the surviving husband’s exceptions to these rulings and the resultant award.

There is no dispute as to the jurisdiction of this court to audit this account and to make the proper awards: Schoble Trust, 346 Pa. 318. The assets are here and the proceeding is in rem. The trusts are seated here, the account is before us and all parties in interest appeared and are represented.

At the audit, the mother-claimant maintained that the law of New York where the life tenant died was determinative of her “heirs”. The auditing judge rejected this contention and held that the law of Pennsylvania applies. Although no exceptions were filed to this ruling and the point was not argued at the bar on exceptions, we observe that the attorney for the mother-claimant attempts to reserve this point in his brief. Not only do we conclude that we have the right to treat this point as having been abandoned by the mother-exceptant’s attorney failing to file exceptions to this ruling, but we are also satisfied that the learned auditing judge was correct. In Car[200]*200ter’s Estate, 20 D. & C. 91, this court held that where the testator, a resident of Pennsylvania, leaves personalty in trust for the benefit of his daughter, then a resident of Pennsylvania, for life with remainder to her heirs and the life tenant, after testator’s death, removes to another State, of which she is a resident at the time of her death, her heirs are to be determined by the law of Pennsylvania, pursuant to the testator’s presumed intent. Judge Gest, in writing the opinion, stated at page 92:

“Clearly we think he meant all those persons on whom by the law of his own State the inheritance would be cast upon his daughter’s death. He may indeed be presumed to know the law of his home State, and even if that presumption be regarded as strained, he certainly may safely be presumed not to know the laws of 47 other States. If, when he made his will, his daughter had been domiciled in another State or country, there might be some room for argument ... or if there were some special provision in the will to show that the testator had the law of another jurisdiction in his mind that law might govern . . .”.

There is nothing in the instant deeds which would indicate that the settlor had the law of another jurisdiction in his mind when he provided this remainder' over to his daughter’s “heirs” surviving her. See also Masonic Mutual Assn., v. Jones, 154 Pa. 107.

In the determination of who are to be regarded as the heirs of Audrey, the life tenant, we must ascertain the settlor’s intention from a perusal of all of the language of both deeds: Cannistra Estate, 384 Pa. 605. Since a living person does not have heirs and the gift over is in remainder to Audrey’s “heirs surviving her”, these heirs are to be determined as of the date of Audrey’s death: Barnard Estate, 351 [201]*201Pa. 313; Love Estate, 362 Pa. 105. See also Hunter’s Pennsylvania Orphans’ Court Commonplace Book, vol. II; “Vested and Contingent Interests”, sec. 12(6), page 1356, and cases therein cited. In Love Estate, supra, Judge Hunter stated (page 107) :

“The direction of this will is that the heirs be ‘living at that time’, the death of the life tenant. This we are persuaded indicates a gift to a class ascertained at the death of the life tenant, composed of those who answer the description at that time. A contingent gift to a ‘then living’ class of ‘heirs’, ‘issue’, ‘descendants’, or any other class subject to fluctuation, requires the postponement of both vesting and membership.”

In the instant case, solely for emphasis, the gift over here is “to the heirs of the said Audrey Silver-man surviving her”.

It is agreed that the deeds were expertly drawn. It is clear that their primary purpose was to benefit the settlor’s children, their mother being only the trustee. Undoubtedly, the latter was otherwise provided for. At least she is not to be regarded as one of the primary objects of the settlor’s bounty in these instruments. There is nothing in the deeds to indicate that the settlor did not anticipate that his daughter would marry; that if she did, her husband would share in these trusts to the full extent prescribed by the Intestate Law existing at the time of her death. Had he intended otherwise, he would have provided either that the remainders should go over to his own heirs or beneficiaries or he would have given the life tenant a power of appointment over the remainders. Further, had he intended to limit the share of any possible husband of Audrey’s or of any other heir of hers upon her death, he could have done so. See Eby’s Appeal, 84 Pa. 241, , 246. There [202]*202is not even a direction in these deeds to distribute equally among “heirs” although the readjudication does exactly that.

Starting with Patterson v. Hawthorn, 12 S. & R.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Martin Estate
74 A.2d 120 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1950)
Steele Estate
103 A.2d 409 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1954)
Arrott Estate
118 A.2d 187 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1955)
Cannistra Estate
121 A.2d 157 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1956)
Warden Trust
115 A.2d 159 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1955)
McKean Estate
77 A.2d 447 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1951)
Laughlin's Estate
9 A.2d 383 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1939)
Simpson's Estate
156 A. 91 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1931)
Golden's Estate
181 A. 484 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1935)
Farmers Trust Co., Excr. v. Wilson Et Ux.
63 A.2d 14 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1948)
Love Estate
66 A.2d 238 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1949)
Pew Trust
67 A.2d 129 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1949)
Crawford Estate
67 A.2d 124 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1949)
Barnard Estate
41 A.2d 578 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1945)
Morris's Estate
147 A. 840 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1929)
Erk's Estate
166 A. 656 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1933)
Schoble Trust Estate
30 A.2d 316 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1943)
Bowen's Estate
12 A.2d 507 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1939)
Eby's Appeal
84 Pa. 241 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1877)
McKee's Appeal
104 Pa. 571 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1883)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
9 Pa. D. & C.2d 197, 1957 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 228, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/silverman-trust-paorphctphilad-1957.