Van Dyke v. First National Bank

46 N.W.2d 667, 233 Minn. 286, 24 A.L.R. 2d 1092, 1951 Minn. LEXIS 641
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedMarch 2, 1951
DocketNo. 35,269
StatusPublished
Cited by41 cases

This text of 46 N.W.2d 667 (Van Dyke v. First National Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Van Dyke v. First National Bank, 46 N.W.2d 667, 233 Minn. 286, 24 A.L.R. 2d 1092, 1951 Minn. LEXIS 641 (Mich. 1951).

Opinion

Knutson, Justice.

The facts in this case are not in dispute. On June 1, 1922, E. H. Moulton created an inter vivos trust under which he directed payment of income to be made to his daughter, Katherine S. van Dyke, and his two grandchildren, Henry S. van Dyke and Katherine van Dyke, as long as they shall live, with the remainder to designated beneficiaries, in these words:

[288]*288“The Trustee shall pay the net income therefrom in equal shares to Katherine S. Yan Dyke and her two children, Henry S. Van Dyke and Katherine Van Dyke, as long as they shall live, the shares of said Henry S. Van Dyke and Katherine Van Dyke being paid to said Katherine S. Van Dyke for their support, maintenance and education as long as they are under 21 years. In the event of the death of any of said beneficiaries, his or her share of income shall thereafter be paid in equal shares to the survivors, or all thereof to the survivor, as long as he or she shall live, and upon the death of the last survivor, the Trustee shall transfer, set over and deliver the trust fund then remaining in his hands unto the issue of said Henry S. Van Dyke and Katherine Van Dyke taking by right of representation, or if there be no issue of them surviving, then unto the persons then living who would be the heirs at law of Harriet E. Moulton, deceased wife of the party of the first part, as determined by and in the proportions provided by the intestate laws of the State of Minnesota then in force.”

The donor died on or about November 12, 1927. The daughter, Katherine S. van Dyke, and the two grandchildren still survive. The granddaughter, Katherine, is married and now goes by the name of Catherine van Dyke Mellen. She has one child, Christopher Biggs Mellen. Henry S. van Dyke was married and has two children by such marriage, Judith Frances van Dyke and Thomas H. van Dyke. The children of Catherine and Henry, being minors, appear by their guardian and guardian ad litem.

Incident to a divorce from Barbara, his wife, Henry entered into a property settlement under the terms of which he agreed to assign to Barbara three-fourths of his one-third interest in the income of the trust. Pursuant thereto, he executed assignments intended to carry out such agreement.

About the same time, the three life beneficiaries under the trust executed assignments intended to change the provisions of the trust so that upon the death of one of the grandchildren of [289]*289the settlor the children of such deceased beneficiary would receive the income to which he or she had been entitled during his or her lifetime, without waiting until the survivor passed away.

In the divorce decree granted to Barbara by the superior court of Los Angeles county, California, the defendant in the action (Henry) was ordered to execute assignments necessary to carry out the property settlement referred to above.

Copies of these assignments were served upon the trustee, First National Bank of Minneapolis. The trustee refused to be bound by the assignments, contending that they were invalid and that the income from the trust was inalienable. The trustee takes the same position with respect to assignments which attempted to accelerate payment to the great grandchildren of the settlor upon the death of their parent.

This proceeding was brought under the provisions of M. S. A. 501.33, et seq., for a judicial construction of the quoted portion of the trust. The trial court upheld the contentions of the trustee, and from its order this appeal is taken.

It is the contention of appellants that the interests of the life beneficiaries are assignable. The trustee contends that the case is controlled by our decision in First Nat. Bank v. Olufson, 181 Minn. 289, 232 N. W. 337, as construed by subsequent decisions, to which reference will be made hereinafter.

The cardinal purpose of construing a will or trust is to ascertain the intention of the testator or settlor. In re Estate of Sherk, 191 Minn. 143, 253 N. W. 365. Not only the trust instrument itself, but the situation of the settlor and his manifest purpose in creating a trust, may be considered. First & American Nat. Bank v. Higgins, 208 Minn. 295, 293 N. W. 585.

“* * * Absent tokens of meaning other than such as the language itself imports, intention must be found exclusively in the language.” In re Trust Under Will of Holden, 207 Minn. 211, [290]*290215, 291 N. W. 104, 107; First & American Nat. Bank v. Higgins, supra.

In In re Trust Created by Watland, 211 Minn. 84, 91, 300 N. W. 195, 198, we said:

“First to be determined is donor’s intention as expressed in the language used in the trust instrument. In that determination we are to be guided by the well known principle that the entire instrument must be considered, ‘aided by the surrounding circumstances, due weight being given to all its language, with some meaning being given, if possible, to all parts, expressions and words used, discarding and disregarding no parts as meaningless, if any meaning can be given them consistently with the rest of the instrument.’ Dumaine v. Dumaine, 301 Mass. 214, 218, 16 N. E. (2d) 625, 628, 118 A. L. R. 834, 839; In re Trusteeship Under Will of Ordean, 195 Minn. 120, 261 N. W. 706.”

In In re Trusts Under Will of McCann, 212 Minn. 233, 210, 3 N. W. (2d) 226, 230, we quoted the following with approval from Dumaine v. Dumaine, 301 Mass. 214, 222, 16 N. E. (2d) 625, 629, 118 A. L. R. 834:

“* * * It is not for the court to read into a trust instrument provisions which do not expressly appear or which do not arise by implication from the plain meaning of the words used, * *

Trusts in which the power of alienation has been suspended, probably for historic reasons, have acquired the name of spendthrift trusts. Restatement, Trusts, § 152; 1 Scott, Trusts, § 151; Jones v. Harrison (8 Cir.) 7 F. (2d) 461.

It is not necessary that the beneficiary be a spendthrift or an improvident person in order that the validity of such trusts be upheld. 1 Scott, Trusts, § 151; Annotation, 119 A. L. R. 23; Restatement, Trusts, § 152, comment g; 1 Bogert, Trusts and Trustees, § 222.

The validity of a spendthrift trust is upheld on the theory that the owner of property, in the free exercise of his will in dis[291]*291posing of it, may secure such benefits to the objects of his bounty as he sees fit and may, if he so desires, limit its benefits to persons of his choice, who part with nothing in return, to the exclusion of creditors and others. Nichols v. Eaton, 91 U. S. (Otto) 716, 23 L. ed. 254; First Nat. Bank v. Olufson, 181 Minn. 289, 232 N. W. 337; Erickson v. Erickson, 197 Minn. 71, 266 N. W. 161, 267 N. W. 426; In re Estate of Lee, 214 Minn. 448, 9 N. W. (2d) 245; 1 Bogert, Trusts and Trustees, § 222.

In Morgan’s Estate, 223 Pa. 228, 230, 72 A. 498, 499, 25 L.R.A. (N.S.) 236, 132 A. S. R. 732, we find the following statement:

“* * * The law rests its protection of what is known as a spendthrift trust fundamentally on the principle of cujus est dare, ejus est disponere. It allows the donor to condition his bounty as suits himself, so long as he violates no law in so doing.

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Bluebook (online)
46 N.W.2d 667, 233 Minn. 286, 24 A.L.R. 2d 1092, 1951 Minn. LEXIS 641, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/van-dyke-v-first-national-bank-minn-1951.