Williams v. Fischlein

144 A.D. 244, 129 N.Y.S. 129, 1911 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1673
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided April 21, 1911·Published·Cited by 15 cases

Opinion

Burr, J.:

The plaintiff brings this action against Louisa A. Fischlein and Mina E. Harvey, ' She seeks therein to hold them liable individually and as executors of the last will and testament of Louise A. Fischlein, and as trustees under said will. For the purposes of pleading, one sued in a representative capacity is a separate and distinct person from one (although the same one) sued as an individual. • (Leonard v. Pierce, 182 N. Y. 431; Rathbone v. Hooney, 58 id. 463.) For the purposes of a. demurrer, therefore,, we may treat this action, as if persons [246] different from the individuals had been named as executors, and persons different from either had been named as trustees. Plaintiff’s right'to receiver depends upon the effect to be given to the agreement upojn the part of her mother, Louise A. Fischlein, who was also the mother of the defendants herein, that, if plaintiff would! convey to her such interest as she had in the real estate devised to her by her father’s will, which consisted of one-sixth part thereof subject to the mother’s life. estate therein, she, the] mother, would ‘ preserve and retain in ‘ trust the plaintiff’s one-sixth (|) interest in the estate, given to her by the last will and testament of her father, using only" the income thereof for jlif6, and upon her death would give to. the plaintiff the said one-sixth interest in her father’s estate, which interest was ancj is worth approximately three thousand ($3,000.00) dollars. ” It is not entirely clear from the complaint whether plaintiff seeks |to recover damages for breach of this agreement upon her mother’s part, whether she proceeds upon the theory that her mother recognized the trust while living, and she now seeks to enforce, final execution thereof by defend- - ants as successors to such trust, or whether she proceeds upon, the theory that the agreement was repudiated by her mother, and seeks to impress] upon- the property left by her, .inwhosesoever hands itjmay.be,'a trust resulting-from such agreement enforcible as against them. The prayer for relief is broad enough to include them all,

As against defendants in their representative capacity as trustees under the will of- Louise A. Fischlein, no cause of action is stated upon any theory. So far as the complaint discloses, Mrs. Fischlein’s ¡will created no trust, appointed no ’ per-. sons as trustees thereunder, and there are no such persons in existence. As against ‘defendants in their individual capacity, no cause of action is stated for damages. They were not parties to the agreement, if there was a. breach thereof, nor have they ever assumed its performance, nor does it appear that, as yet, they have received ¡any property under their mother’s will. We delay for a moment considering the question whether they might not be proper parties under certain circumstances to a suit in equity to consider the action as one against the defendants in their representative capacity as • executors of their [247] mother’s will.. It may not he maintained against them as an action at law for damages for a broken agreement upon their testator’s part, because this court has no jurisdiction of their persons. They are foreign executors solely. (Flandrow v. Hammond, 13 App. Div. 325; McGfrath v. Weiller, 98 id. 291.) If the action be deemed one in furtherance of the trust and to compel its final execution, then, passing by other objections, the trust being, so far as the complaint discloses, entirely one of personalty, upon the death of Mrs. Fischlein -the further execution of the trust would not devolve upon her executors, but would vest in the Supreme Court until a new trustee was appointed. (Pers. Prop. Law [Consol. Laws, chap. 41; Laws of 1909, chap. 45], § 20.)

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Williams v. Fischlein, 144 A.D. 244, 129 N.Y.S. 129, 1911 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1673 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1911).

144 A.D. 244 (Williams v. Fischlein) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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