39 Del. Ch. 322 | New York Court of Chancery | 1960
Plaintiffs, who are two of the present trustees under a trust created by Edward C. Davis on January 3, 1939, have filed this complaint for instructions, naming as one of the interpleading defendants, Edward C. Davis, Jr., both in his capacity as a beneficiary of the trust and as an original trustee named in the 1939 instrument. Also named as such interpleading defendants are Eric Davis Schneider, son of Sarah Davis Schneider, a trust beneficiary prior to her death on April 29, 1959, Herman W. Schneider, administrator of the estate of Sarah Davis Schneider, and Delaware Trust Company, executor of the estate of Edward C. Davis, the grantor of the trust. Edward C. Davis, Jr., and Sarah Davis Schneider were the only children of the grantor, who died on April 12, 1959.
The 1939 trust instrument provided for the setting up of two separate irrevocable trust funds to be known as the “Edward C. Davis, Jr., Trust” and the “Sarah Davis Green Trust”,
The item of the trust indenture required to be directly construed by the Court for the purpose of resolving the issues raised by the complaint and answers reads as follows:
“Seventh: If said Sarah Davis Green should die while my son, Edward C. Davis, Jr., is living, then in such case the corpus or principal and all accumulated income of the trust created for her shall be transferred, added to, and become a part of the trust herein created for the benefit of my surviving son, Edward C. Davis, Jr.”
Sarah Davis Green having died, leaving her brother, Edward, to survive, it would appear at first glance that no serious question is presented concerning the disposal of the property held in trust for Sarah’s benefit during her lifetime. However, by order of this Court entered on October 26, 1956 in Civil Action 715,
On May 17, 1957, the trustees having exercised their discretion, Edward C. Davis, Jr., executed a receipt acknowledging that he had
The Schneider defendants contend that the Edward trust was absolutely extinguished as a result of the above transactions and that the assets of the Sarah trust obviously cannot be transferred to a non-existing trust, Houston v. Houston, 20 Del.Ch. 1, 175 A. 51; Guaranty Trust Co. v. Cutting, 130 Misc. 856, 225 N.Y.S. 407. They seem to concede that had the trustees not acted as a result of the order entered in Civil Action 715, such would not be the case, but the trustees having acted they contend that Edward C. Davis, Jr., has become the victim of his own greed. They conclude that the Sarah trust having thereby failed or become extinguished, a resulting trust has arisen for the joint benefit of Edward C. Davis, Jr., on the one hand and the estate of Sarah Davis Schneider and Eric Davis Schneider on the other. The defendant, Delaware Trust Company, executor of the estate of Edward C. Davis, proposes an alternative theory in the eventuality it is decided that the Edward trust terminated upon the May 1957 payment to Edward C. Davis, Jr., namely that such corpus upon her death thereupon became a part of her father’s estate.
The Schneider defendants argue that not only does a trust necessarily terminate when its corpus has without more been transferred to the beneficiary thereof, Scott on Trusts, Vol. 3, § 342, but that the judgment of this Court in Civil Action 715 bars Edward C. Davis, Jr., from relitigating an issue allegedly decided in that case, namely the right of the trustees to terminate the trust created for his benefit. It is argued that the grantor of the trust having failed to foresee the possibility that Edward C. Davis, Jr., by means of invoking discretionary action on the part of the trustees might, prior to his sister’s death, bring about the termination of the trust created for his benefit, the Court may not, as in a will case where intestacy is to be avoided
Counsel for Edward C. Davis, Jr., 'take the basic position that the Edward trust has clearly not been formally terminated to date and that their client accordingly is not estopped to deny the Schneider allegations that termination is an accomplished fact. They point out that there are no official documents of record evidencing termination of such trust, no resignations of the trustees, no formal account filed, and that no independent evidence of such termination has been introduced or even pleaded. It is contended that the spendthrift provisions of the trust preventing assignment of trust assets alone prevented termination of the Edward trust at least until the precise interest of such trust in the corpus of the Sarah trust should be determined, depending on the contingency among others of whether or not the settlor were alive at Sarah’s death. It is further argued that the interest of Edward’s children in the trust assets required a continuation of the Edward trust at least until Sarah’s death, and finally and perhaps most importantly that the Edward trust must necessarily have remained in effect to serve as a conduit through which under certain factual situations the corpus of the Sarah trust might either pass to Edward or be ultimately distributed by the trustees along with the assets of the Edward trust between the settlor’s brother and sister or their heirs at law under item eighth of the trust indenture.-
I conclude therefore that inasmuch as the Edward trust was, in my opinion, technically in existence at the time of Sarah’s death, it having a purpose to serve notwithstanding the draining off of its original assets, as then constituted, as a result of the 1956 proceeding, it may serve as a conduit for the ultimate turning over of the corpus of Sarah’s trust to Edward C. Davis, Jr. Compare comment p., p. 166, § 337, Restatement of the Law; Trusts.
Having concluded that there was no formal termination of the Edward trust prior to Sarah’s death such as to prevent the carrying out of the settlor’s intent as to the devolution of trust property along the precise lines spelled out by him in the trust indenture (and it is upon such grounds that I rest my decision), it would, nonetheless, have been at odds with the settlor’s intent to declare a resulting trust or to decree that the corpus of the Sarah trust must pass under, the settlor’s estate in view of his clearly expressed purpose that the corpus of the Sarah trust should be held in further trust for the benefit of her
The donative scheme found within the four corners of the indenture is clearly weighted in favor of the son. His portion of trust assets was to go to him outright at the age of thirty-five, provided his father were then dead, and might be turned over to him by the trustees in their discretion were his father alive (as transpired) at the time the son became thirty-five. On the other hand the corpus of the Sarah trust was never to be distributed to her outright except to the extent that item third of the indenture authorized the trustees to pay over to Sarah such amounts from principal and net income or both as the trustees in their discretion should deem proper and reasonable for her benefit, nor was the corpus of the Edward trust to be added to that of the Sarah trust unless her brother were to predecease her, not having attained the age of thirty-five and leaving no issue. Finally, as noted earlier, the corpus of the Sarah trust was to be paid over to her children only if she should survive her brother and then not until twenty years after her death.
In short, it would contravene the settlor’s intent had I been compelled as a result of the adoption of the technical contentions as to termination advanced by the Schneider interests to declare a resulting trust. However, having determined that the Edward trust was not terminated or extinguished prior to Sarah’s death, I need not consider at greater length the parties’ contentions concerning the over-all plan of the testator, duPont v. Equitable Security Trust Co., 35 Del.Ch. 514, 122 A.2d 429. By the same token no consideration has been given to the interrogatories addressed to persons having some knowledge of the background of the settlor’s plan.
As to the claim of the Schneider litigants that the trustees should be directed to pay Sarah’s debts as of the time of her death I decline to interfere with the decision not to make such payments from the Sarah trust. Item third of the Sarah trust actually provides only for the payment to Sarah of such sums of money as the trustees “* * * in their absolute discretion deem proper and advisable * *■
I suggest that the precise form of order to be entered herein insofar as it directs transferal by the trustees of the assets of the Sarah trust be determined after a conference with counsel and such additional briefing and argument as may prove to be necessary.
. Sarah Davis Green, having been divorced .from her first husband, later married Herman W. Schneider.
. Delaware Trust Company, et al. v. Edward C. Davis, Jr., et al. (Del.Ch. unreported, October 22, 1956).