Van Syckel's Estate

9 Pa. D. & C. 485, 1927 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 80
CourtPennsylvania Orphans' Court, Philadelphia County
DecidedApril 13, 1927
DocketNo. 284
StatusPublished

This text of 9 Pa. D. & C. 485 (Van Syckel's Estate) 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
Van Syckel's Estate, 9 Pa. D. & C. 485, 1927 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 80 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1927).

Opinion

Van Dusen, J., Auditing Judge,

Sarah B. Van Syckel died Dec. 24, 1871. The present account is of a fund of $100,000 which she gave in trust for her daughter, Helen Goddard, for life, and thereafter, . . as she may appoint and direct by any last will and testament, to and among her child or children or their issue, in such shares and for such estates as she may appoint and direct: and in default of any such appointment and direction, then in trust to pay over, assign and convey the same to and among her child or children or their issue, in such shares and for such estates as they would take the like property absolutely hers in case she were a widow, under the intestate laws of Pennsylvania; the issue of any deceased child or children taking equally among them only such share as their parent would have taken if living: to them, their heirs and assigns.”

There were similar trusts for other daughters, and testatrix directed that all the estate so held in trust for the daughters should be kept in a joint trust, so that losses and gains should be equalized among them.

Helen Goddard died Feb. 19, 1891, leaving six children, Kingston S. Goddard, Walter H. Goddard, E. Claude Goddard, Josephine C. Goddard, Ellwood W. Goddard and Helen M. Goddard.

By her will and codicils, expressly exercising the power of appointment, she gave the fund in trust “until the decease of the last survivor of my children, to divide the net income quarterly, into as many parts or shares as, at each of the said times of quarterly distribution, there shall be children of mine then living, and children of mine then dead, represented by descendants then living ... and to pay one share of income to each child or its descendants. There was a provision for the husband, which fell out as to this fund because it was not within the power (9 Dist. R. 867); and by the first codicil she excluded the children or issue of Kingston S. Goddard by his first marriage, [486]*486and by the second codicil she excluded Walter H. Goddard and his descendants, giving Walter, however, $50 per month for life. Upon the death of the last survivor of her children, the principal was to go to their descendants, except the descendants of Walter and of Kingston by his first wife, and should there be none, then to the Home Missionary Society and the Masonic Home.

By adjudication of Judge Penrose, filed May 8, 1891, upon an account filed by reason of the death of Helen Goddard, two-thirds of the joint fund was awarded in trust for the two surviving daughters and the other third in trust for the children of Helen Goddard, under the provisions of her will. Two attempts to review this adjudication failed: 9 Dist. R. 367; 10 Dist. R. 744.

The other two daughters died and their shares have been awarded out, leaving only Helen Goddard’s share in the trust.

Kingston S. Goddard, one of the children of Helen Goddard, was born April 25, 1864 (before the death of Mrs. Yan Syckel), and died May 29, 1926, survived by two children born of his third wife, viz., Kingston S. Goddard and Bernard Lacey Goddard, both minors with guardians.

The status of the other children and issue of Helen Goddard is set forth in full in the petition for distribution and need not be repeated here, as it is only material on the question of notice of the filing of the account — except to state that three of her children were born after the death of the original testatrix.

The attack made upon the limitations of the Helen Goddard trust in the petition for review above referred to (also in Goddard’s Estate, 9 Dist. R. 703; 198 Pa. 454) is now renewed.

It is clear that the limitations of principal are too remote, for they are to vest only after the death of all Helen’s children; and three of them were born after the death of Mrs. Van Syckel, the original testatrix. It was claimed that the life estates to the children fell with the invalid remainder, but it was held in the cases referred to that, at least so long as the life-tenants were Helen’s children, their estates were to be preserved. These estates, of course, vested at Helen’s death, and, therefore, at a period not too remote.

Now Kingston, one of Helen’s children, has died; and under her will, exercising the power, the issue of such child are to receive the parent’s share of income after his death. Two objections are made to this in the interest of Walter, one of Helen’s children, who was left out of the appointment, but will come in for an equal share in default of appointment. (Walter himself died Dec. 25, 1923) :

1. That Helen’s power to appoint to the issue of her children is to be confined to the issue of those of her children who died before her. In the gift over in default of appointment the issue are so defined, but not in the clause creating the power. Certain cases are very much in point:

Wickersham v. Savage, 58 Pa. 365. In that case the power was substantially like that under discussion, viz., a power in testator’s son John to appoint to his “children and issue,” and in default of appointment, “to and among the said children and issue and their heirs equally, the issue of deceased children to take only the shares which their parents, if living, would have taken.” The appointment was to John’s only son (called John, 3rd) for life, with general power of appointment in him, and in default of appointment, to his heirs under the intestate laws. The general conclusion was that as John, 3rd, was the only representative of the class among whom appointment could be made, he must necessarily take the whole, and, therefore, that any limitations by the appointor on his absolute right were ineffective. In demonstrating that John, 3rd, was the only person to whom appointment could be made, the court [487]*487said: “John’s (the 2nd) children were undoubtedly the objects of the testator’s bounty. They were the designated remaindermen after the life estate had expired, the only exception being in favor of the children of any deceased child of John, the second, who were to represent their deceased parents, and take his or her share in the estate. Only to this extent, beyond the children of John, the second, did the will go. The children of living parents were not remaindermen in the view of the power, for there is no other provision for the grandchildren than that just referred to, and the term children does not in general in such a power extend to grandchildren: 4 Watts, 82; 2 Wh. 376. As the power to be executed was in favor of living persons, the donee could make no contingent disposition of the estate to ‘issue’ in its technical sense. That it was to be executed in favor of persons in being when executed is so apparent that it will not bear discussion.”

Pepper’s Appeal, 120 Pa. 235. Here, again, the power was like that in Wickersham v. Savage and in the present case. Again, there was only one man in the class, and the appointment was to him, but with a curious provision for forfeiture if he alienated or became bankrupt, which was evidently intended as a substitute for a spendthrift trust. The conclusion was the same as in Wickersham v. Savage, and in arriving at that conclusion, it was said: “We think it is plain that the testator intended the share of Charles (the appointor) to go to such of the children of Charles as might- be living at the death of the latter, and to the issue of any deceased child.”

Wickersham’s Estate (No. 1), 261 Pa. 121.

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Bluebook (online)
9 Pa. D. & C. 485, 1927 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 80, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/van-syckels-estate-paorphctphilad-1927.