White v. White

25 S.W.2d 826
CourtTexas Commission of Appeals
DecidedMarch 26, 1930
DocketNo. 1357-5477
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 25 S.W.2d 826 (White v. White) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Texas Commission of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
White v. White, 25 S.W.2d 826 (Tex. Super. Ct. 1930).

Opinion

CRITZ, J.

This suit was filed in the district court of Eannin county, Tex., by Mary Alice White, against L. C. White and Mark McMahon, as surviving trustees under the will of her deceased father, P. H. White. The will in question, omitting formal parts, reads as follows:

“2. I will, devise and bequeath all the property and estate of which I may die seized and possessed of my daughter, Mary Alice White, subject to the conditions and limitations expressed in this will.
“3. I will, devise and bequeath all of the property and estate of which I may die seized and possessed to my trustees hereinafter named, to be held, owned and controlled by them in trust for the maintenance and education of my said daughter, Mary Alice White, and for the further purpose of carrying out the provisions of this will; and the income from my said estate shall be applied by my said trustees to the education and maintenance of my said daughter, and her children, if any, until that'time, when under the terms of this will, the estate hereby bequeathed becomes vested absolutely in the beneficiary or beneficiaries herein named, according to the terms hereof.
“4. When my said daughter, Mary Alice White, arrives at the age of twenty-five years, then, if her mother, Nannie A. White, be not living, or, if said Mary Alice White, after she arrives at the age of twenty-five years, be, or become a married woman, or, if the said Nannie A. White shall die after said Mary Alice. White becomes twenty-five years of age, then, the estate of which I shall die seized and possessed shall become the absolute property of and the title thereto shall vest in my said daughter, Mary Alice White, and the same shall be delivered to her by said trustees, but until she becomes entitled to the possession of my estate according to the provisions of this will, she shall have no power or authority to in any way dispose or incumber any part of my said estate, or the income of any part of same, nor shall any part of such estate, nor any part of the income thereof be liable for any of the debts or liabilities of herself or her husband.
“5. Should my said daughter die before the estate herein bequeathed to her is deliverable to her according to the terms hereof, and-should leave surviving her a child or children born to her, then, in that event, I will, devise and bequeath to such child or children all of the estate of which I may die seized and possessed. If she should leave surviving her more than one child, then it is my will that all of such children shall share the estate herein bequeathed, equally.
“6. Should my said daughter, Mary Alice White, die before the estate herein bequeathed to her is deliverable to her according to the terms of this will, and should she die without leaving any child born to her surviving her, then it is my will, and I hereby devise and bequeath all of the property and estate of which I may die seized and possessed, to be shared equally among them, share and share alike, to Gordon White, Bertine White, Kennon White, Curtis White and Nina White.
[827]*827“7. I appoint h. 0. White, G. W. Fuller and Mark McMahon, all of Bonham, Texas, executors of this will, and direct that no bond be required of them as such executors. I also appoint said L. O. White, G. W. Fuller and. Mark McMahon as my trustees and trustees of my estate, and it is to them that I refer when the words ‘my trustees’ or ‘trustees’ are used in this will.
“In case of death, inability or refusal to act upon the part of either of said L. 0. White, G. W. Fuller or Mark McMahon, either before or after his acceptance of the trust as executor or trustee, then the other or others so ■qualifying and acting or continuing to act .shall have all the power herein vested in all ■of them. And I appoint them, or such of them as qualify and act, guardian of the person and estate of my said daughter, during her minority, without bond.
“8. I direct that no other action shall be had in the county court in relation to the settlement of my estate than the probating and recording of this will and the return of an inventory, appraisement and list of claims of my estate.
“Witness my hand at Bonham, Texas, this the 5th day of April, A. D. 1911.”

An examination of the above will discloses that it creates a trust in favor of Mary Alice White. The instant action is for an accounting, the removal of the trustees, and to have the district court appoint their successors.

Originally the will named three trustees, L. G. White, G. W. Fuller, and Mark McMahon. G. W. Fuller died before the commencement of the suit. L. 0. White died while the suit was pending, but before it was tried. Therefore Mark McMahon was the only surviving trustee at the time of trial.

■ Trial was had in the district court with a jury, but at the close of the testimony the court peremptorily instructed a verdict for the trustee, both as regards to the action for removal and the action for an accounting. Judgment was entered accordingly. Mary Alice White appealed to the Court of Civil Appeals for the Sixth district at Texarkana, which court in all things affirmed the judgment of the trial court. 15 S.W.(2d) 1090. The ease is now before the Supreme Court on writ of error granted on application of Mary Alice White.

We shall hereafter refer to the parties in the order in which they appeared in the district court, and in which they now appear, to Miary Alice White, as plaintiff, and Mark McMahon, the only surviving trustee, as defendant.

; As we understand the opinion of the Court ■of Civ.il Appeals, it holds, in effect, that no grounds were shown for the removal of the surviving trustee, and that the beneficiary of the trust created by the above will, plaintiff herein, has no 'right to maintain a suit for an accounting until the contingencies on which she is to take the property have occurred, and that she, not being the absolute taker of the property under this will at this time, is not now entitled to a general accounting.

The Supreme Court granted the writ, on the application of the plaintiff, with the following notation upon its docket: “Granted. We believe that Mary Alice White had the right to maintain a suit'for an accounting, and if necessary, removal.”

We are in full accord with the above notation, and hold that it states the law of the case. In other words, the will, by its terms, vests the plaintiff with a present valuable interest in the estate, and this gives her the right to maintain a suit 'to preserve its integrity. 89 Cyc. 464-466. The will expressly states, in effect, that the estate is devised to the trustees for the maintenance and education of .the .plaintiff and her children, if any. This provision which gives her the right to use the income of the estate for the purposes stated vests her with a present valuable interest, and is sufficient to confer upon her the right, upon a proper showing, to demand an accounting.

We are further of the opinion that, even if she could not take anything under the will until she attains the age of twenty-five years, still a vested right in such a contingency would operate to confer upon her such a title and interest as to enable her to prosecute an action to preserve the integrity of the estate, and such an action might include a general accounting. 39 Oyc. 267, par. (d).

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Bluebook (online)
25 S.W.2d 826, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/white-v-white-texcommnapp-1930.