The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-08-22
TRUST COMPANIES MAKE
LEAVING ESTATE SAFE
Records In Probate Courts, Country
Over Show Pathetic Tales of
Tragedy.
Condolences ILL-PLACED
Modern Trust Company Has But Re-
Gently Come Into Its Own, But Great
Growth Indicates Able Performance
of Duty.

The time honored proverb that
truth is stranger than fiction" is
perhaps nowhere illustrated in so for
chile a way as in the cold. dry records
of probate courts of this or any other
section of the country. The pathetic
and ofttimes tragic circumstances with
their inseparable proof of the frailty
! and uncertainty of human life, which
these court files contain, rarely come
| to the knowledge of the public. There
are stories of the footing of estates. of
mismanagement of estates. ruinous
speculation with the belongings of
widows and helpless children. Almost
| invariably such records point a moral.
They show that when a man dies and
leaves all his property TO be managed
! by some trusted adviser" or family
counsellor" without providing any
other safe agency. that very frequent
/ ly such confidence has been ill-placed
and that such trusts have been betray-
ed. 1t Is possible that the maker of
the will could not have foreseen such
happenings.
In former days. before the arrival of
the so-called modern trust company
the dying man had no other aiterna-
tive than to call i'll his most trusted
L
half of surviving members of his fam
lily. But the modern institution. known
as the trust company, has changed all
this because of the fact that as cor
poration Ii lives on forever; because
| 1t Is the most responsible agency, and
because 1t Is especially equipped to
handle the affairs Of estates most eco
lnomically and wisely.
Although trust companies have
I tr,%s& III. -.
last ten or FIFTEEN years. there is much
food for thought when it is stated that
1.-THE trust companies of the United
States now manage estates and handle
trusts for the living and the dead,
amounting in value to seven billion,
two hundred millions of dollars This
does not begin to include the amount
of trusts which they have In their GUS
| tody. II one should include the So
$4,000. 600 banking resources report
ed by 1885 trust companies on June
30 last the $1,000. 600, 200 individual
trusts and the $4,000. 00o,009 given
as the face value of mortgages execut-
ed by corporations as security for
bonds and stocks and conveyed to
trust companies IN. addition to securi-
ties deposited as pledge for the re-
demption of collateral trust bonds. the
grand total reaches the staggering fig
:
How vast is this responsibility, car
ried by trust companies. can be un-
derstood when it is stated that the
entire estimated wealth of the United
States is $40, 900, 900, 600
In their work as executor or trustee
under will, and 90 administrator OF es-
tates, the trust company has come TO
be generally known as 1.-The corpora
ton with a soul" Eminent econom-
lists and students have also styled it
'the most modern mechanism of
some degree of aptness. have called
the trust company the department
store of finance" But IL is a remark
able fact that comparatively few peo-
pie including business men and those
who are concerned with serious
thoughts as to how they shall make
due provision for their families after
their demise. understand the work
ings OF the modern trust company.
To many people II means simply the
same as bank" The facts, however.
are that the trust company owes its
success and great influence to the val
liable services which it is able to rem
der the living and in behalf of the
dead. AS executor and trustee under
wills 1t faithfully carries out the wishes
of the dead in a way that no individual
stewardship Is able to perform. 1t Is
because these institutions manage es-
tates and individual trusts worth over
seven billions of dollars without the
loss of a single dollar that men of
large or small means In this and other
communities begin to realize that II Is
Corporation with soul" and that
II offers absolute assurance that tesla
mentary instructions will be carried
out As administrator of an estate the
trust company is simply called upon
to preserve the value of an estate and
execute the wishes Of the deceased.
As executor It Is charged with the res
possibility of exercising its own judg-
ment in managing property or funds.
AS trustees, 1t 10 frequently called upon
to take care of special trusts devoted
to educational, charitable or religious
purposes. Special trusts are created
for wayward sons, so as to prevent
them from running through their in
hefitanee." There are special spend
thrift trusts" where trust companies
are Obliged to keep principal safely in
terest to the beneficiary in certain in
stallments. There are instances where
trust companies prevent daughters
from making hasty or ill-.dvised mar
riages with men who are after dots"
Often the trust company attends to
the education Of beneficiaries unde~
wills. In fact. there are thousands Of
different variations OF the services
which trust companies render in their
daily routine. which shows that they
are truly possessed OF souls" and
come into personal touch with widows
and legatees. They cannot run away
with trust funds. they cannot 80 on
vacations when wanted. they cannot
speculate with such funds or tangie
up accounts. Instead OF one man to
manage an estate. there Is a crop of
officers and a responsible board of
directors. Every transaction in con-
nection with estate MANAGEMENT In
subject to approval by officers and
directors As trust companies be-
come more generally known. the pro-
bate records will contain less evidence
OF defalcat.on. waste and litigation.
DR.. Freeman at Pine Street
Al Pine Street Baptist Church today