Opinion ID: 1505106
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Testamentary Trust.

Text: There were provisions in the will establishing certain trusts. Also, there were provisions in a codicil which would have justified a prolongation of administration for the purpose of providing the funds for these trusts. However, there is no evidence that this administration was prolonged for such purpose. On the contrary, there is the direct testimony of the executor that My activities have been trying not to lose any potentially valuable property; primarily trying to realize on anything which could be made to produce money to help wind up the estate.    My object all along in the operation of this estate was to get it settled and out of the way.    Even if the estate had had no income, we would have had just as much service rendered to the estate by various people and just as much work, but we could not have paid anything. The income just helped to pay the freight. We started absolutely short of money, and we had to conserve the assets to try and make some money come in. What we have collected in the way of income is almost entirely the natural proceeds which I acquired as executor. The stocks, and the land contracts, the royalties and the dividends were all on transactions of my father before his death.    No attempt was made to sell this real estate as a whole, but if someone came along and wanted to buy a piece of land, except this mineral property, we were interested in trying to get that sold. It would not have been possible to distribute that much of the estate because most of this stuff is quite unmarketable. The property was not being withheld from administration to preserve it for the beneficiaries. In the case of mineral property like that, you cannot force it on the mining companies until they are ready to take it. It is pretty much what they offer.    We endeavored to move some of the property, like property on lake fronts up in the woods, did move some of that, had a great many complications to iron out, and when we had a chance to sell something we did.    I was trying to realize money to carry on the estate to try and wind it up and defray these big bequests and expenses. The claims have not yet been paid. There are still some outstanding and still some unpaid bequests. The above-quoted as well as other, evidence paints a clear picture of an administration being conducted in a regular manner for the benefit of the estate as a whole. New York Trust Co. v. Eisner, supra, 256 U.S. at page 350, 41 S.Ct. at page 507, 65 L.Ed. 963, 16 A.L.R. 660. There is no evidence to the contrary. The sole circumstance in even seeming opposition is the prolongation of the administration. The force of that circumstance is entirely destroyed by necessities present for delay arising out of the character of the bulk of the assets. There is no substantial evidence to support an inference that such prolongation was in anywise caused by the requirements of the will or of the codicil as to trusts.