Smith v. Baltimore Trust Co.

105 A. 534, 133 Md. 404, 1919 Md. LEXIS 5
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedJanuary 14, 1919
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 105 A. 534 (Smith v. Baltimore Trust Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smith v. Baltimore Trust Co., 105 A. 534, 133 Md. 404, 1919 Md. LEXIS 5 (Md. 1919).

Opinion

Pattison, J.,

delivered the opinion of the Court.

By his will executed on the fifteenth day of July, 1896,, James E. Clayton, after making certain bequests, to Miss Welham of England, who afterwards became his wife, and after providing for the release of a mortgage against his aunt, Mrs. Tweedy, divided the rest and residue of his estate in two equal parts.

One of these parts he devised and bequeathed unto the appellees, the Baltimore Trust and Guarantee Company and Henry C. Kennard, in trust for his sister Nannie Clayton. The other part he devised and bequeathed to said trustees in trust for his three aunts, Mary Anno Smith, Elizabeth Margaret Manning and Celina Prances Tweedy.

In respect to the trust created for the benefit of his sister, the will directs his trustees.:

“To pay the net income derived from one-half thereof to my sister Nannie Clayton for and during the time of her natural life and from and immediately after her death to pay said income in equal portions, to my Aunts Celina Prances Tweedy, Elizabeth Margaret Manning, and Mary Anno Smith, Cor arid during the term of their respective lives. * * * If either of my said Aunts should die leaving children then her portion of said income and the portion of the corpus of my estate from which said Income is derived shall go to and become the absolute property of such children. But if either of my said Aunts should die leaving no children, then her portion of said income shall be paid to her surviving sister or sisters during their respective lives with remainder of the corpus out of which sudd income is derived bo the children of such survivor or survivors per stirpes. If, however, my sister Nannie Clayton should die leaving children these *406 devises over to her Aunts and their children shall be void and the one-half of my estate out of which her income is derived shall go to her children absolutely.”

The will then provides::

“As to the other half of the net income derived from said rest and residue I request and direct my said executors and trustees to pay it over in equal shares of one-third to each of my Aunts, Celina Trances Tweedy, Elizabeth Margaret Manning, and Mary Anne Smith, for and during the term of their respective lives. Upon the death of either of my said Aunts leaving children, then a portion of the corpus of my estate equal in value to that from which the income payable to said Aunt for life had been derived shall be transferred to such children per stirpes. If any of my said Aunts shall die leaving no children then the portion of the net income of my estate payable to such Aunt for life shall be divided equally between my surviving Aunts for their respective lives. * * * If at the death of any of my said Aunts without children * * * there be one Aunt surviving and the children of a deceased Aunt, then the surviving Aunt shall receive during life one-half of the income payable to such childless deceased Aunt and the corpus from which the other half of the income is derived shall go to the children of the deceased Aunt who died leaving children. If my sister Hannie Clayton should survive all of my said Aunts and then die leaving no children or descendants in the direct line, it is my will and I hereby direct that the corpus of my estate out of which the portion of the income payable to her is derived to be transferred to the children of my said Aunts per stirpes, the children of a deceased child to take the parent’s share.”

James E. Clayton died on or about the 18th day of June, 1902, survived not only by his wife, Alice Clayton, and his sister Nannie Clayton, both of whom are now living, but also by his said three aunts, all of whom have since died.

*407 Elizabeth M. Manning died on March 23rd, 1906, leaving children and grandchildren of a deceased child, surviving her.

Mary Anne Smith died on the 30th day of July, 1906,. leaving children surviving her, one of whom, Isabelle E. Smith, is the appellant in this case.

The last surviving aunt, Celina Frances Tweedy, died in the month of February, 1917, without child, children or descendants in the direct line.

The hill in this ease was filed by the appellees, trustees aforesaid, asking for a. construction of that part of the will creating the trust estate for the benefit of the aunts, that they may he guided and controlled thereby in the disposition of the one-sixth part of the “Rlest and Residue” of the testator’s estate from which the income payable to Mrs. Tweedy was derived.

It is claimed by the appellant that upon the death of her aunt, Mrs. Tweedy, the portion of the corpus of the estate from which the income payable to her had been derived passed under the will to the children of her deceased sisters, Mrs. Manning and Mrs. Smith respectively.

It will he seen from the provisions of the will that the income derived from one-half of the “Rest and Residue” of the testator’s estate was to be paid in equal parts to his three aunts for and during the period of their respective lives and upon the death of either of them leaving children the portion of the corpus of the estate, equal in value to that from which the income payable to her had been derived should he transferred to such children.

Elizabeth M. Manning, was the first to die. She left children and grandchildren, children of a deceased child, and under the provisions of the will the portion of the corpus of the estate from which the income payable to ber was derived passed to them.

Mary Anne Smith next died. She also left children and to them passed the portion of the estate from which the income payable to her had been derived.

*408 Mrs. Tweedy, who was the last to die, left no children or direct descendants surviving her, and the question is to whom shall be transferred the portion of the testator estate from which the income payable to her had been derived.

The will contains, first, a provision that “If any of my said aunts should die leaving no children, then the portion of the net income of iny estate payable to such aunt for life shall be divided equally between my surviving aunts for their rer spective lives and, second, “If at the death of any of my said aunts without children * * * there he one aunt surviving and the children of a deceased aunt, then the surviving aunt shall receive during life one-half of the income payable to such childless deceased aunt and the corpus from which the other half of the income is derived shall go to the children of the deceased aunt who died leaving children.”

It will be seen that neither of these provisions meets the contingency arising in this case.

The first deals only with the disposition of the income upon the death of any one of the aunts dying without children, and' the contingency provided for by the last provision is where one of the aunts dies leaving a sister and the children of a deceased sister surviving her. This last provision can only apply to the second aunt dying.

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Bluebook (online)
105 A. 534, 133 Md. 404, 1919 Md. LEXIS 5, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-baltimore-trust-co-md-1919.