Court Opinion

ID: 3605582
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2016-07-05 23:51:09.577989+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:58:48.310773
License: Public Domain

The testatrix bequeathed to Ellen Cameron and John Cameron the net income of a trust fund of $25,000 during their lives, and the principal *Page 362 
of said trust to Lillian Gordon. The decree of the Surrogate adjudges that it was the intention of the testatrix that the "trust legacy, given by article `First' of her codicil, for the support of Ellen Cameron and John Cameron during their lives, receive preferential payment over the general legacies * * * and that * * * the life beneficiaries of said trust legacy are entitled to have applied for their support and maintenance a sum equal to interest on said trust legacy computed at the rate of six (6%) per centum per annum from October 6th, 1932, a date one year after the death of the testatrix, until said trust legacy is paid in full * * *; but that it was not the intention of said testatrix that the remainder interest given by said article `First' of said codicil be preferred over other general legacies, and accordingly on the falling in of said trust life estate, the said legacy in remainder shall abate proportionately with the other general legacies in the event that the estate of the decedent shall be insufficient to pay all of said general legacies, in full, with interest."
The testatrix did not bequeath to the life beneficiaries an annuity of $1,500 per annum, or six per cent on $25,000, but only the income of a trust fund of $25,000. To carry out the provisions of the will, a trust fund of $25,000 must be set aside, and the life beneficiaries are entitled to the income of that fund, not more nor less. If part of the trust fund is lost, then the life beneficiaries would under the will receive only the income of what remained. So the testatrix provided in her will, and the courts may not make a different will for her.
Because of probable deficiency in the assets of the estate, it may prove impossible to carry out in full all the provisions of her will. The courts in that event may give effect to the putative intention of the testatrix to give preference to the provision she made in her will for the support of the life beneficiaries. That can be done only by setting up a trust fund of $25,000 and paying *Page 363 
the income of that fund to the life beneficiaries. The executors of the estate would not be authorized by the will to pay to the beneficiaries an annuity of six per cent on $25,000. Their duty under the will is to pay over the $25,000 to the trustee if the assets of the estate are sufficient for that, and the courts may not direct them to do more.
What is to become of the principal of the trust estate after the death of the life beneficiaries? The testatrix provided in her will that it should go to the appellant. The will may not show any intent to prefer the remainderman over other beneficiaries, but it was the clearly expressed intention of the testatrix that the remainder of the trust fund should go to her. If the trust fund increased in value she alone would benefit by the increase. If loss occurred, she alone would bear the loss. So the testatrix has provided, but the courts now assume to decree otherwise. They say that upon the death of the life beneficiaries the trust fund shall revert to the estate, though the testatrix has provided that it shall belong to the appellant, and that, subject to abatement proportionately with the other legacies, she shall receive a general legacy of $25,000 in place of the remainder in the trust fund bequeathed to her by the will. The appellant is entitled to the remainder of the trust fund of $25,000 after the death of the life beneficiaries. If by reason of deficiency of assets in the estate, there had been an abatement in the amount of the trust fund, or loss occurring after the trust fund is established, her remainder would of course be limited to the diminished fund, but whether the fund be large or small, the appellant is entitled to receive that fund after the death of the life beneficiaries.
The order of the Appellate Division should be modified accordingly.
O'BRIEN, HUBBS, LOUGHRAN and RIPPEY, JJ., concur with FINCH, J.; LEHMAN, J., dissents in opinion; CRANE, Ch. J., taking no part.
Order affirmed. *Page 364