Majority
Headnote
[1] Estates • of Deceased Persons — Will — Trusts — Income of Trust Property—Time of Payment.—Where the will of a deceased person provided for the distribution of the entire residue of the estate, after the payment of the expenses of administration and of certain specific legacies, to a trustee upon certain trusts, but no provision was made therein for payment of any income or principal of the estate to the beneficiary of the trust prior to distribution, the beneficiary was not entitled to be paid any income until after the trust property passed into the hands of the trustee upon distribution of the estate; and at distribution no issue was presentable as to what portion of the income the beneficiary would be entitled to, nor the date from which it should be paid.This appeal is from an order of the superior court in and for the county of Santa Barbara disapproving in certain respects the report and account of one Frank W. Sponable as trustee under and by virtue of the will of Emma E. Bare, deceased, which said order was made and entered on July 18, 1923, pursuant to certain findings of fact and conclusions of law on that date made and filed in said court. The appeal is by said trustee and presents to this court for its determination certain questions respecting the correctness of the conclusions of law of said court, which formed the basis of said order, and of the order itself. The facts are undisputed and are briefly these: Emma E. Bare died in the city of Santa Barbara on or about the twenty-first day of July, 1920, leaving estate therein and also in the state of Kansas, of which latter state she had been a resident prior to her becoming a resident of California shortly before her death. On June 3, 1920, she had made her last will, which was offered and admitted to probate in the county of Santa Barbara upon her decease therein. By the terms of her said will, after making certain specific bequests, she devised all the rest and residue of her estate to Frank "W. Sponable of Paola, Kansas, as trustee; or, in the event of his death prior to the death of the testatrix or of his failure or refusal to accept the trust, then to John L. Hunt of Topeka, Kansas, upon certain trusts as set forth in said will, among which were the following: “(a) To pay to my adopted daughter Boreene Bare, formerly Boreene Steer,.all of the income thereof in equal monthly payments as nearly as may be until she, the said Boreene Bare shall reach the age of thirty-five years, and then on her thirty-fifth birthday to pay, assign, convey and turn over to her one-half of all of the property so held in trust, together with all of the income thereof, if any, which shall not theretofore have been paid to her as hereinbefore provided; and thereafter and after the thirty-fifth birthday of her, the said Boreene Bare, to pay to her in like equal monthly payments all of the income of the remainder of said trust property until she, the said Boreene Bare, shall reach the age of forty-five years, and on her forty-fifth birthday to pay, assign, and convey and turn over to her, the said
“It is therefore ordered, adjudged and decreed, that said account and report as amended be and is hereby disapproved and disallowed by the court, and that said trustee be and he is required and directed to file forthwith a full and true account in accordance with the findings of fact and conclusions of law herein, showing the corpus of said estate and the income therefrom separately from the date of death of testatrix until the receipt of said trust fund by the said trustee, and that such further account show a full and true account in accordance with the findings of fact and conclusions of law herein from the time of said trustee’s receipt of said trust fund to the date of the filing of said account and report as amended; and that said trustee pay over to the beneficiary and contestant, Doreene Dare, just as soon as it can be done without loss to the investments of the trust, the income received from said trust property from the date of testatrix’s death to the date of distribution to Frank W. Sponable as trustee herein, without deduction therefrom of either the attorneys’ or the executor’s fees therein allowed for handling said estate or other expenses of administration of said estate; that said trustee pay over to -the beneficiary and contestant Doreene Dare, just as soon as it can be done without loss to the investments of the trust, the income received on said trust funds from date of distribution to Frank W. Sponable, as trustee, without deduction of the expenses found to be extra-ordinary and unusual expenses under paragraph 15 above; and including therein the part of said income which has been re-invested by said trustee; that said trustee pay over to the beneficiary and contestant, Doreene Dare, any other amounts found to be due her under his account submitted in accordance with this decree, and in conclusions herein.”
From the foregoing terms of said order and decree, and from the whole thereof, the said trustee has taken and prosecutes this appeal. The appellant presents three points for our consideration upon this appeal: First, whether, after the decree settling the final account and distribution in the estate of Emma E. Dare has become final it can be modified by an order of the court making it in a collateral proceeding; second, whether the income to be paid to the said
The second question presented by the appellant is as to whether the income to be paid to said Doreene Dare as the primary beneficiary under the terms of the trust provided for in the decedent’s said will commenced as to the time of its allocation from the date of the decedent’s death or from the time of the coming of the property of said estate into the hands of the trustee upon its distribution to him as such. This question involves an interpretation of the terms of the decedent’s said will with respect to such income. [3] It is to be noted that the said testatrix in her said will refers to Doreene Dare as her “adopted daughter” and the record otherwise shows that the latter stood in this relation to the testatrix. This being so she is to be regarded, in attempting
[5] This brings us to the next inquiry, which is, conceding these provisions in the decedent’s will to amount to a bequest for maintenance, to what date did its intended inception relate, that of the testatrix’s death or that of the investment of the trust in the hands of the trustee? By both reason and authority we are compelled to the conclusion that the respondent’s right to the income to be derived from the trust properties must be held to have relation to the death of the testatrix. As to the reason of the situation it would seem to follow that if, as we hold, the provision in said will and in the trust clauses thereof were intended by the testatrix to be in the nature of a bequest for the maintenance of her adopted daughter who, as has been shown, had no other means of support except that of her own exertions; and, also, as has been shown, such adopted daughter had theretofore been supported and maintained by her adopting parents during their lifetime, such intention ought to have relation to a time from and after the death of the testatrix, since by that means only could continuity of such maintenance be assured. This conclusion would derive additional and very cogent support from the fact that the adopted daughter of the testatrix is made primarily the sole beneficiary of the entire substance of the residue of the said estate under the terms of said trust. The foregoing reasoning and conclusion are fully supported by the authorities dealing with similar or analogous situations. In 40 Cyc., under the caption of “Income from Residuary Fund,” it is stated as “settled by the great weight of authority that in the ease of a life estate in a residuary fund or in some aliquot portion thereof, if no time is prescribed in the will for the commencement of the interest or the enjoyment of the use or income of such residue the legatee for life is entitled to the interest or income of the clear residue as after-wards ascertained, to be computed from the death of the testator.” The cases cited in support of this statement fully
“Sec. 1368. Legacies are due and deliverable at the expiration of one year after the testator’s decease. Annuities commence at the testator’s decease.
“Sec. 1369. Legacies bear interest from the time they are due and payable except that legacies for maintenance or to the testator’s widow bear interest from the testator’s decease.”
In the case of Crew v. Pratt, 119 Cal. 131 [ 51 Pac. 44 ], this court said with reference to an annuity to be paid by his trustees to the widow of a testator “for her maintenance” and “as soon after my decease sufficient funds shall come into their possession” that in the absence of an expressed intention to the contrary in the will the annuities should commence at the date of the death of the testator, and that the clause in the will relating “to the time of payment (viz., as soon as they have sufficient funds, etc.) does not relate to the date when the annuity should begin,” citing section 1368 of the Civil Code. We are, therefore, satisfied that the trial court upon its finding that the bequest of the income of said estate was “a bequest for maintenance” was not in error in holding that the beneficiary thereof was entitled to receive such income accruing from and after the date of the testatrix’s death.
The final question presented for our consideration is as to whether the “income” thus to be paid the beneficiary is to be the net income and subject to deductions for the expenses necessary for the care and preservation of the trust estate, or whether the gross income is to be paid over to the beneficiary, leaving said expenses to be provided for out of the substance of the trust estate.. [6] Incidental to this inquiry the first question discussed is as to the property or fund out of which the commissions of the executor and the fees of his counsel during the administration of the estate
The order of the trial court is hereby affirmed, with directions to the trial court to require said trustee to present a trustee’s account in such form as will permit a settlement thereof in conformity with the views expressed in this opinion.
Shenk, J., Waste, J., Lawlor, J., Seawell, J., Lennon, J., and Myers, C. J., concurred.
Rehearing denied.
All the Justices concurred.
Cases cited
- Mackay v. Mackay 107 Cal. 303 p. 37
- Nowland v. Kierulff 143 Cal. 450 p. 37
- In re Stanfield 135 N. Y. 292 p. 39
- Cooke v. Meeker 36 N. Y. 15 p. 39
- Crew v. Pratt 119 Cal. 131 p. 39
- Huddleston v. Washington 136 Cal. 514 p. 41
- Gartenlaub v. Union Tr. Co. of S.F. 185 Cal. 648 p. 41
- New York Life Insurance & Trust Co. v. Sands 24 Misc. Rep. 102 p. 42