Court Opinion

ID: 9647346
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 13:33:46.340481+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:06:30.380908
License: Public Domain

McDERMOTT, Justice,
dissenting.
A fiduciary, is required in managing the assets of a trust estate, to exercise care, skill and the judgment of an ordinarily prudent person, 20 Pa.C.S. § 7302(b). Good intentions alone are insufficient. Neither should a trustee in managing the assets of another put them at risk because such risks were one time fruitful for the trustee in his private business. If a trustee should insist, adamantly insist, upon speculative investments, he shreds the safety net and weakens the confidence reposed in him. Without impugning the intentions or integrity of the instant trustee, that is exactly what he did. The majority answers that whatever he intended or insisted upon were never implemented and therefore harmless. The majority overlooks one crucial factor; the bank or co-trustee prevented their implementation. Now, courtesy of the majority, the bank has been allowed to resign the trust, leaving Mr. Raymond *227White and his brother, J. Nevin White, as sole trustees. The record is replete with examples of risky and sometimes bizarre investment ideas proffered by Mr. Raymond White. Perhaps such ideas were magic for him in his private affairs, and doubtless he wishes to enhance the trust; but his duties to the trust differ materially from his own fortunes. Again, without impugning integrity, the trustee, Mr. Raymond White, would have made a considerable personal profit had the bank not refused, the purchase of lumber from Mr. White.
The majority insists that until there is evidence of actual wrongdoing a trustee should not be removed. Fair enough. Certainly, however, all the trustees should be kept in place. Permitting the bank to resign under the circumstances is to dilute the intention of the testator by at least a third, perhaps, indeed, excusing the very persons most relied upon to guard the trust. The majority insists upon a salutary principle of law, that a testator should have who he will be his trustee. If more than one trustee is named however, the intention of the settlor in diversifying their backgrounds should be honored: particularly so where one is a bank, lawyer or other professional trustee appointed for their expertise. To allow one to resign, unreplaced by a similar person or institution, is to dilute the full intention of the settlor. Indeed, trustees may be driven from their post by actions they were designated to prevent or warn against. A good reason for a trustee to resign is a good reason to replace his kind. To allow a trustee to remain and another to resign, under the circumstances here, is to dissolve the full intention of the testator and leave the trust in hands not intended. As the Superior Court noted, “the bank’s presence as a trustee is clearly more beneficial to the trust than Raymond’s continuing as a trustee.” In Re White, 321 Pa.Super. 102, 111, 467 A.2d 1148, 1153 (1983).
I would affirm the decision of the Superior Court.
NIX, C.J., joins this dissenting opinion.