The San Francisco call., 1909-10-14
ATTACKS WILL
OF SPRECKE[S
AS IMPROPER
Attorney Peter F. Dunno Con.
tinues Argument for COn-
testants Before Judge
Testamentary Trusts Are Char
acterized as Illegal Under
Laws of California

Peter f. Dunno. summing up his
argument before Judge Coffey yester-
DAY in behalf OF the contestants Of the
will of Claus spreckels. brought clearly
into the light the single conclusion
toward which every point and phase of
his exhaustive and masterful discussion
has tended. He insisted that the will
Of Claus Spreckels must be declared
invalid and the entire estate left by
the sugar king. both real and personal,
must be divided among his heirs at law
along the lines Of intestate succession.
and not as provided by the trust which
Spreckels attempted TO create under his
viii
Dunno viii bring his argument TO an
end today and finally submit the case
TO the decision Of the court. He has
already attacked every argument ad-
Vanced in support of the contentious of
the proponents Of the will. and has
left only q few minor details of assault
with which to close his case.
DAUGHTER HEARS SPEECH
Mrs. Emma Ferris. daughter of Claus
Spreckels. whose interests are bound up
with those Of her brothers. Rudolph
and Gus Spreckels. the executors, was
in court yesterday FOR the second time
since the beginning Of the case and
was an attentive listener to DUNES
argument
I think I have been able said
Dunno. TO establish to your honor,
first, that there was no equitable con-
version in this case; second, that the
trust 10 transfer the realty was in
valid because it was unauthorized by
the statutes of this state, assuming that
the trust as to realty might be differen-
Sat +f-n
next place that the personality is so
inseverablv interblende6 with the re-
atty that with the fall OF the real estate
trust the personal property trust must
also fan The result is that all the
estate, both real and personal must go
along the lines of the intestate success
sion.'
IMPOSSTBILITE OF SEVERANCE
Dunno dwelt at length yesterday
upon the doctrine of severab ability, point
ing out the impossibility OF dividing an
Illegal realty trust from a valid per
sOnality trust and administering the
latter in accordance with the provisions
OF the viii If the court should ad-
minister the will as il stands. he said
II would be acting in the face of the
statute which makes a real property
trust invalid, and If, on the other hand,
II should attempt d division Of the
realty and personality, cutting out the
former as though with a surgeons
knife, il would be establishing substi-
tuition amounting TO the practical max
ing Of a new viii
Dunno showed what distribution
under severance Of personality and
realty would lead to If carried out with
the former distributed under the will
and the latter under the law of in
testate succession. He brought a table
OF figures TO bear to show the absurd
r7F i
on the estimate Of So, 200, 900 of realty
and S3,6O0,o00 Of personally, or q total
Of se,3O0.0O0 IN the estate, as estimated
in the petition for a decree Of partial
distribution
EXAMPLE OF DIVISION
II Mrs. Ferris were to receive her
full one-third Of the total of the estate.
said Dunno, and it were to consist en-
tirely of personal property. as provided
in the viii, she would receive S3lOO,O 900
Of personally and an additional s1,140,-
600 as her fifth share Of the realty as
an heir at law. Her total would thus
be Sz.240.000. Gus and Rudolph Spreck-
els would divide the remainder Of the
personally, receiving $3.50, 900 each and
their fifths each OF the total realty. or
a total each Of only $3.50, 900. John D.
and Adolph B. Spreckels would each
receive a fifth Of the realty. or $1,14O,-
600 each. Under such q division Mrs.
Ferris would receive over IS per cent
OF the entire estate, Gus and Rudolph
Spreckels would receive only Is pere
cent each and John D. and Adolph B.
would receive II per cent each. Such
a division. said Dunno, would not only
be absurd, but would entirely destroy
the intention Of the testator that Mrs.
Ferris, Gus and Rudolph were TO re-
ceive equal shares Of the estate.
DUNE ATTACKS TRUST
In closing his argument for the day.
Dunno said that the testator had Gre
ated an unlawful suspension of the
power Of alienation by measuring the
suspension Of such power by the lives
of persons not in being at the time of
his death Should any Of the heirs pro-
vided for IN the will have children prior
to the death OF Mrs Spreckels. these
children would be entitled TO share in
the division OF the estate. which. under
the law relating TO the suspension OF
alienation, destroys the trust. In sum-
ming up his points Dunno said:
I'm the first place this will has cre-
ated a trust TO divide and transfer; IN
the second place. no trust power can
be substituted into the viii to the ex-
cision Of the trust to divide and trans
fer; the trust TO divide requires sus-
pension for a time indefnable, not as
measured by the terms OF lives in be-
ing at the death Of the testator.
During the currency of the trust term
the entire fee in the estate vests in the
trustees and no estate whatever in the
beneficiary. whose right is dependent
upon his survivorship Also at all the
for distribution the entire fee is in the
trustees for the express purpose Of sus-
tanning the original limitation"