Opinion ID: 1197637
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: Accounting as moot bank as co-trustee.

Text: The trial court found that plaintiffs' demand for an accounting had become moot in view of the record. Thus, the decree of the trial court provided that the accounting of the trust estate, including its interest in the partnership, has been determined and settled in accordance with the findings of this Court and as set forth in this decree. Defendants assign this as error and also assign as error the holding by the trial court that Leo Gorger had not properly accounted, as well as the manner in which the trial court ordered adjustments of the accounts. In support of these assignments of error defendants contend that Leo Gorger submitted as his accounting the records of the partnership and trust; that plaintiffs should be required to specify their objections to this accounting; and that the case should be remanded to the trial court for that purpose. We believe, however, that the various allegations of plaintiffs' complaint relating to the various matters discussed in this opinion were sufficient as objections to such an accounting by the trustee; that all of such matters have now been resolved; and that no useful purpose would be served by remanding the case for further accounting proceedings, except for the limited purpose of determining the amount of funds advanced by Leo Gorger to and for the benefit of the trust, as previously discussed, and computing the amount of interest to which he is entitled to credit for such advances, at the rate of six percent per annum. At the same time, the trial court should also compute and charge Leo Gorger with interest at six percent per annum on all sums found to be properly chargeable against him, as set forth in this opinion. The trial court rejected plaintiffs' request that Leo Gorger be removed as trustee. However, the final decree would remove Robert Gorger, one of the children, as co-trustee and would appoint the United States National Bank as co-trustee. Defendants assign this as error. As previously noted, and as stated by the trial court, there is in this case no charge of diminution of trust corpus or material losses to [its] assets under the trusteeship of Leo Gorger, with Robert Gorger as co-trustee. Despite that fact, in view of the discord in the family, we do not believe that the trial court erred in holding, in effect, that it would be to the best interests of the trust estate to have a neutral co-trustee, rather than any one of the Gorger children.