Opinion ID: 1948783
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: gifts to wife

Text: In seeking to arrive at a testator's probable intent, this Court has acknowledged the wisdom of attributing to the testator those common human impulses which we all readily recognize and to the compulsion of which we instinctively respond. Fidelity Union Trust Co. v. Robert, 36 N.J. 561, 565 (1962); In re Estate of Burke, 48 N.J. 50, 64 (1966). It is certainly a common impulse for a wealthy man, with no children, to make generous provision for a wife with whom he has happily spent most of his adult years. This is especially true when the wife has few assets of her own. Mr. Ericson was clearly moved by such an impulse. He bequeathed to his wife all of his tangible personalty. He made her the life beneficiary of the inter vivos trust of March 7, 1967. He gave her outright the marital share designated in the will as Part A. He made her life beneficiary of the non-marital trust, designated Trust A. Otherwise stated, he gave to his wife for her life the income from about two-thirds of his estate, and gave her the other third outright. But he went even further. Both with respect to the trust created during his lifetime, as well as with respect to the non-marital trust appearing in his will, he empowered his trustee to invade principal, if need be, for his wife's further comfort and protection. Article I, 1. (b) of the irrevocable trust reads as follows: Whenever my Trustee, in its sole and absolute discretion, determines that my wife's income from all sources known to my Trustee is not sufficient for her reasonable support, care, comfort and maintenance, my Trustee may pay to or use for her benefit, so much of the principal as my Trustee determines to be required for these purposes. The corresponding clause in the will is in almost identical terms. Finally, he sought to immunize the marital share, left to his wife outright, from the impact of death taxes by providing that these should all be paid from the non-marital share of the residue. The most natural and normal plan of testamentary disposition for a man in Mr. Ericson's position would be to provide for his wife  who had almost no property of her own  with the utmost generosity. Her claim to his bounty  which he fully recognized  was far greater than any claims of nephews or nieces. The provisions of the inter vivos trust and of the earlier will (March 9) were directly responsive to this natural impulse. The clause in dispute, were it to be given effect, would very substantially frustrate what seems obviously to have been Mr. Ericson's dominant purpose.