Henigbaum v. Security First National Bank
Henigbaum v. Security First National Bank
Opinion of the Court
The will of William M. Baird, admitted to probate November 12, 1924, provided, in part, as follows:
“Eighthly: All the rest, residue and remainder of my estate I give, devise and bequeath as follows:
“I.
“One-fourth thereof to said Pacific-Southwest Trust & Savings Bank and Margaret L. Baird, in trust, however, upon the following terms and conditions:
“1. . . .
“2. Said Trustees shall possess, manage . . . invest and reinvest the said trust property . . . and shall collect and receive all of the rents . . . and after the payment of the charges and expenses of the administration of this trust . . .*221 shall make payment of the income then remaining ... in as nearly equal monthly installments as possible to my said wife Margaret L. Baird, such payments to be made to her for and during the term of her natural life . . .
“3. Upon the death of my said wife this trust shall finally cease and terminate and payment and distribution of the principal of such trust, together with any undisbursed net income in the hands of the Trustee shall be made as follows, to-wit:
“(a) In accordance with the terms of any last will and testament of hers duly probated.
“ (b) If she shall die intestate then to her heirs at law per the then existing statute of succession of the State of. California. ’ ’
The will also provided that said Margaret L. Baird should not have power or authority to transfer or encumber the trust property during the term of the trust.
Under the decree of final distribution, which was made on August 7, 1929, certain property was distributed to said trustees in trust as provided in the will. Said decree provided, in part, as follows:
“Fourth-. That the balance of said estate, to wit, the sum of $492.78 and all other property belonging to said estate, whether described herein or not, be and it is hereby distributed as follows:
“Item 1. One-fourth thereof to Security-First National Bank of Los Angeles [successor to Pacific-Southwest Trust & Savings Bank, one of the trustees named in will] and Margaret L. Baird, but in trust and as trustees nevertheless, with the powers and duties . . . provided by said testator in . . . section Eighthly of said will ... to execute the trust . . . and upon the termination of said trust ... to pay and distribute the principal of said trust together with any undisbursed net income in the hands of the surviving trustee as follows, to wit:
“ (a) In accordance with the terms of any last will and testament of said Margaret L. Baird duly probated, or (b) if she shall die intestate then to her heirs at law per the then existing statute of succession of the state of California.”
Margaret L. Baird died on March 6, 1951. Her will was admitted to probate, and the Security-First National Bank of Los Angeles was appointed executor. Her will provided, in part, as follows:
“I, Margaret L. Baird, do make this as and for my last will and testament, as follows:
*222 “After the payment therefrom of the expenses of my last illness and of my funeral and burial, and all of my just debts, I give, bequeath and devise all of the principal of that certain trust described and created by William M. Baird, my deceased husband, in and by subdivision ‘I’ of item ‘eighthly’ of his last will, dated September 4, 1923, and which was admitted to probate as his last will and testament in and by the Superior Court of the County of Los Angeles, State of California, November 12, 1924, in a proceeding, No. 70841, entitled ‘In the Matter of the Estate of William M. Baird, Deceased,’ then pending in said Court for the probate of said will and the administration of his said estate, to the following named legatees who shall survive me, as follows: [Here 26 money bequests were set forth—3 for $10,000 each, 1 for $5,000, 19 for $2,000 each, and 3 for $500 each.]
“If said principal of said trust shall be insufficient to pay all of said expenses, debts and legacies in full, each of said legacies shall be decreased in that proportion that the amount thereof, as above set forth, bears to the total amount of all said legacies, as above set forth.
“I hereby appoint Security-First National Bank of Los Angeles, a national banking association, and H. L. Carnahan as executors of this will.
“In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 9th day of November, 1934.”
There was no residuary clause in her will. Her individually owned property was of the value of approximately $48,000.
On August 3, 1951, the Security-First National Bank of Los Angeles, as trustee of said trust, filed (in the matter of the estate of William M. Baird) its 25th and final account and its petition for order decreeing termination of said trust and for final distribution thereof. In said petition the trustee asked for distribution of all the assets of said trust to itself as executor of the will of Margaret L. Baird. The said petition stated, in part, that the amount of the specific bequests in Margaret’s will is “less than the amount of assets” in the trust, and that her will “does not purport to distribute the residue of the assets of said trust over and above the amount of said specific bequests.” The trustee asked therein that it be allowed $343.47 as ordinary compensation and $888.45 as a distribution fee; and that its attorney be allowed $150 for ordinary services.
On August 28, 1951, the appellants herein, as heirs at law of Margaret L. Baird, filed objections to said petition for
On March 31, 1952, the bank filed its supplement to said account and petition, and asked for extraordinary compensation of $250 for the bank as trustee and $1,000 for its attorney by reason of additional services required in connection with the objections.
On April 30, 1952, appellants filed objections to said supplemental petition, wherein they objected to the allowance of extraordinary fees.
The court found that Margaret, by her said will, intended to and did exercise the power of appointment set forth in William’s will and in the decree of distribution in his estate ; that she intended to and did appoint all the distributable assets of the trust to the executor of her will to blend and merge the same with her own individually owned assets for the purposes of administration and distribution in her estate.
The court ordered that the distributable assets of said trust estate be delivered by the trustee (bank) to the executor of Margaret’s will (bank) to be blended and merged with the assets individually owned by Margaret for the purposes of administration and distribution in her estate; that the trustee be allowed $343.47 as ordinary compensation, $888.45 as a distribution fee, and $700 for further ordinary and for extraordinary fees; that the trustee’s attorney be allowed $150 as
This appeal, by certain heirs at law of Margaret, is from said order.
Appellants assert that there is a remainder or portion of the trust property which was not effectively appointed by Margaret in her will; and that such remainder consists of the portion of the trust property which remains after deducting’ (1) the total amount of the money bequests appointed by Margaret’s will to legatees who survived her, and (2) the total amount of Margaret’s expenses and debts designated by her will to be paid from the trust property. Appellants contend that the court erred in not ordering that such remainder be distributed under the alternative or subdivision “(b)” provision of William’s will and the decree of distribution in his estate. They argue that under said “(b)” provision the said remainder (not disposed of by her will) should be distributed, under the trust decree in William’s estate, to her heirs at law. As above shown, the decree of distribution in William’s estate establishing the trust (and also his will) provided that the trust should terminate upon the death of Margaret. Under said decree in his estate (and under his will) the trust property, upon termination of the trust, was to be distributed (a) in accordance with any will of Margaret duly probated, or (b) if she shall die intestate then to her heirs at law. It therefore appears that Margaret was given the power of appointing, by her will, a person or persons to take the trust property. It also appears that in the event she should “die intestate” the trust property should be distributed to her heirs at law. She left a will, but the total amount of the money bequests therein to legatees who survived her (approximately $60,000, according to statement of appellants ’ counsel) plus the amount of her expenses and debts ($1,801, according to the claims filed within the time allowed for filing creditors’ claims) plus the estimated tax ($1,450) was several thousand dollars less than the appraised value of the trust property (appraised value being $81,796.27 or $88,845). (The trustee said that it evaluated the trust property at $81,796.27 for inheritance tax purposes, and evaluated it at $88,845 for the purpose of fixing trustee’s fees.) It therefore appears that Margaret failed to appoint or dispose of trust property of the value of several thousand dollars. Respondent (trustee) argues, however, that Margaret intended to exercise her power
Appellants assert further that the unappointed or undisposed of part of the trust property should not become a part of Margaret’s estate, because the trust property was the separate property of William and since Margaret was not survived by a husband or issue, the property, if it should become a part of her estate, would go, under section 229 of the Probate Code,
The court erred in ordering that the unappointed part of the trust property be delivered to the executor of Margaret’s will to be blended and merged with her individual assets for the purpose of administration in her estate.
Under the circumstances here, the appointed portion of the trust property (the portion disposed of by Margaret in her will) also was not distributable as a part of Margaret’s estate. In the case of United States v. Field, 255 U.S. 257 [41 S.Ct. 256, 65 L.Ed. 617], it was said at page 264: “[Wjhether the power be or be not exercised, the property that was subject to appointment is not subject to distribution as part of the estate of the donee. If there be no appointment, it goes according to the disposition of the donor. If there be an appointment . . . then ... it goes not to the next of kin or the legatees of the donee, but to his appointees under the power. ’ ’ In the case of In re Tailor’s Will, 116 N.Y.S.2d 314, it was said at page 317: “There being no provision in the will, express or implied, that the appointive property ... be brought into the donee’s estate and blended with her individual property . . . such property passes directly, under the instruments granting the powers, to the appointees.” In Hooker v. Drayton, 69 R.I. 290 [33 A.2d 206, 150 A.L.R. 723], it was said at page 296: “ [T]he appointee of the appointed property benefits not out of the estate of the donee of the power, but out of the estate of the donor. ‘It is a recognized rule of the common law that a bequest which comes to a beneficiary
Appellants contend further that the trustee should not have been allowed a distribution fee; and that the attorney for the trustee should not have been allowed a fee for extraordinary services in connection with the distribution of the trust property. In view of the above conclusion to the effect that the trust property should not be distributed in accordance with the petition of the trustee, a distribution fee to the
The order directing distribution of the trust property, and the order allowing the trustee $888.45 as a distribution fee, are reversed. The order allowing $950 to the attorney for ordinary and extraordinary fees is reversed insofar as it includes an allowance for extraordinary fees.
Shinn, P. J., and Valleé, J., concurred.
A petition for a rehearing was denied October 14, 1953.
Section 229 of the Probate Code provides: “If the decedent leaves neither spouse nor issue, and the estate or any portion thereof was separate property of a previously deceased spouse, and came to the decedent from such spouse by gift . . . such property goes in equal shares to the children of the deceased spouse. . . .”
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Estate of WILLIAM M. BAIRD, LYDIA HENIGBAUM v. SECURITY FIRST NATIONAL BANK (a National Banking Association), as Trustee, etc.
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published