Scott's Estate
Scott's Estate
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
William H. Scott, decedent, died April 12,1920, leaving a will in which he provided, inter alia: “It is my
At the time testator died the Federal Income Tax Laws included what was known as an “excess profits tax” on corporations and the executors were advised that if the corporation were formed it would result in a much larger tax than would be imposed upon the company as a partnership, and that it was generally believed Congress would, at its next session, repeal or modify the excess profits tax law. It was, therefore, deemed advisable to wait the action of Congress. In the meantime the business was registered in the office of the secretary of the Commonwealth and also in the local prothonotary’s of
The above findings of fact are sufficiently supported by the evidence and make it unnecessary for us to further consider the argument of appellant that there was no thought of incorporation on the part of the executors until over two years after testator’s death. Nor are we impressed by the argument made by appellant that the conditions of the will had become impossible of performance because of the death of one of the children before the date of incorporation. Those claiming through the beneficiaries named in the will could assert no higher rights than the original beneficiaries. They must perform any condition the person to whose rights they succeed would have been obliged to perform. Testator had the right to impose such conditions as he saw fit so long as he violated no law, and those who desire to accept the benefits of his bounty should not be heard to complain of the burdens attached to his stipulations. We must, accordingly, consider this case from the standpoint of the powers of discretion given the executors to continue the capital in the business for the benefit of those entitled to the property.
The decree of the court below is reversed and the record remitted for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
Reference
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- Syllabus
- Wills — Direction to incorporate business — Discretion of executors — Election not to incorporate — Exhaustion of powers — Executors and administrators. 1. Where a testator expresses a desire that his business shall be continued, and directs his executors to incorporate it, in such a way as not to interfere with the immediate settlement of his estate, but authorizes them, if incorporation is impossible, to continue it under any arrangement they think best, and the executors, without giving up the idea of incorporation, continue the business under a partnership form until better tax conditions should prevail, they cannot after the expiration of two years from testator’s death organize a corporation to take over the business. 2. In such case, the direction that the course to be pursued by the executors should not interfere with the immediate settlement of the estate, indicates a limitation upon the powers of the executors, and shows that an indefinite postponement was not intended. 3. The word “immediate” should be reasonably construed, and had the corporation been formed or steps to that end been taken, for example, within the time ordinarily required by law for the settlement of the estate, it would have been in time. 4. When the executors, for reasons deemed sufficient, adopted the partnership form, they exhausted the powers conferred upon them. Wills — Conditions — Performance — Representatives of beneficiaries. 5. Persons claiming through beneficiaries named in a will can assert no higher rights than the original beneficiaries; they must perform any condition the person to whose rights they succeed would have been obliged to perform.