Estate of Anderson, Matter of

Decision Date22 February 1989
Docket NumberNo. 58603,58603
Citation541 So.2d 423
PartiesIn the Matter of the ESTATE OF Charles Maurice ANDERSON, Deceased. Howard W. DAVIS v. DEPOSIT GUARANTY NATIONAL BANK, Executor of the Last Will and Testament of Charles Maurice Anderson, Deceased, and Trustee of Charles Maurice Anderson, Testamentary Trust.
CourtMississippi Supreme Court

Douglas E. Hassell, Ward, Martin & Terry, Vicksburg, William M. Champion, University, for appellant.

T.F. Badon, Liberty, for Deposit Guaranty National Bank.

D. Reginald Jones, Liberty, for heirs of Fred A. Anderson, Jr.

EN BANC.

ROBERTSON, Justice, for the Court:

I.

Today's testator, a bachelor during his lifetime, by will made substantial bequests to his favorite nephew. The rest of his estate he placed in trust to provide for the education of his nephews and nieces for the next twenty-five years, at the end of which the trust corpus and any undistributed income will also go to the favorite nephew.

We are told that the bequest in trust violates the Rule against Perpetuities, and by this we are told that testator has misjudged the nephew much more than the measure of the Rule.

The Chancery Court rejected the attack and upheld the trust. With but slight modification, we affirm.

II.

Charles Maurice Anderson, late of Amite County, Mississippi, died December 12, 1984. Anderson was never married and had no children. Anderson was one of three children of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Alvin Anderson, Sr., the other two being Fred Alvin Anderson, Jr., his brother, and Helen J. Waitzman, his sister. Anderson was predeceased by both of his parents, and by his brother and his sister.

At the time of his death, Charles Maurice Anderson provided for a last will and testament which left a number of specific bequests to Howard W. Davis, his nephew, who is the son of testator's deceased sister. Davis is presently 53 years of age and is alive and well and living in Gloster, Mississippi. The portion of the will at issue today is Item IX which reads as follows:

I hereby direct that the Deposit Guaranty National Bank of Jackson, Mississippi, take into its absolute control and handle as trustee the following described property, to-wit:

(Then follows the description of approximately 960 acres of land.)

The trustee shall use all of the income derived from the above described property, be it timber, minerals or other such income which may develop in the future, for the education of the descendants 1 of F.A. Anderson, Sr. for a period of twenty-five (25) years from the date of the admission of this last will and testament for probate. The trustee shall not be authorized to sell and dispose of the real property but only use the income therefrom and it shall do so without any limitation whatsoever. Also to be used in the same manner for the same purpose, that being the education of the descendants of F.A. Anderson, Sr., for a period of twenty-five (25) years from the date of the admission of this last will and testament for probate shall be all of the income developed from my interests in oil, gas and mineral rights including, but not necessarily limited to The principal assets of the testator's estate consist of

that portion of Magnolia State Oil & Land Company which I own and any other minerals which I own or in which I may have an interest, and minerals which may in the future become mine or part of my estate. I direct that my trustee not allow any one of the descendants of F.A. Anderson, Sr., to take advantage of the educational benefits which may be derived under this item but ask that the trustee be as liberal with each as possible. At the conclusion of the twenty-five year period for which this trust is created, then I give, devise, and bequeath the real property and all of the oil, gas and minerals, which may then be in, on or under the property to Howard W. Davis and any money or securities which may still be in the educational fund at the end of the twenty-five years should likewise be delivered to Howard W. Davis, and in the event of his death prior to his taking, then to the heirs of his body. 2 [emphasis added]

(a) 960 acres of land and minerals, valued at the time of trial at $660,179.10, and devised in trust;

(b) a 41 1/3% interest in Magnolia State Oil & Land Company valued at the time of trial at $86,136.05, devised in trust;

(c) the residuary estate, which has been bequeathed to Howard W. Davis under Item X of the will subject to pecuniary legacies in the amount of $6700.00 under Items VII and VIII, and payment of taxes and administrative expenses; and

(d) various lots in the town of Gloster (including the testator's home and all contents therein) and all personal property, bequeathed to Howard W. Davis under Items III and VI of the will.

The descendants of the testator's late father, Fred Alvin Anderson, Sr., a/k/a F.A. Anderson, Sr., living on December 12, 1984, included five grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren. Two more great-grandchildren have been born since that date. 3 The will of Charles Maurice Anderson was admitted to probate in the Chancery Court of Amite County, Mississippi, on December 21, 1984, nine days following Anderson's death. Subsequently, for reasons not clear in the record, Deposit Guaranty National Bank of Jackson, Mississippi, the executor of the will and one of the appellees here, petitioned the Court for probate of the will in solemn form. On February 5, 1986, the Chancery Court admitted the will to probate in that form.

On March 14, 1986, the Bank as Executor filed a petition for construction of will and for instructions. Specifically, the Executor requested interpretation of Item IX of the will of Charles Maurice Anderson, which has been quoted above.

On April 10, 1986, Howard W. Davis filed a response, arguing that (a) Paragraph IX violates "the Rule against Perpetuities" because, by its terms, it will last for twenty-five (25) years and also it has an indefinite time of commencement; (b) the terms of the trust are too vague, uncertain and narrow; (c) the terms are too ambiguous; (d) the beneficiaries are an uncertain class; and (e) the cumulative effect of all of the above. Davis later amended his pleadings and made alternative prayers in the event the trust was not held void, including (1) that the term of the trust be attenuated to conform to the Rule against Perpetuities, twenty-one (21) years; (2) that the forced heirship should Howard W. Davis die before the maturity of the trust be vitiated and that Howard W. Davis be able to transfer his remainder interest by last will and testament; and (3) that education be strictly defined.

The matter came on for hearing before the Chancery Court of Amite County on August 12, 1986. There were several stipulations entered at the time, the following of which are most relevant:

(1) The prospective trust assets are identified in Paragraph IX of the will and all prospective trust property and income therefrom is ascertainable by reference to the will and other documents including instruments filed in the office of the Chancery Clerk and the records of Magnolia State Oil and Land Company.

(2) If the trust is determined to be valid, then the testator's purpose in creating the trust is for the education of the descendants of F.A. Anderson, Sr.

(3) If the trust is determined to be valid, then the court should set objective standards or guidelines for the trustee to apply in determining the eligibility and amount of educational benefits to be distributed.

(4) If the trust is determined to be valid, then the Uniform Trustees' Powers Law, Miss.Code Ann. Secs. 91-9-101, et seq. (1972), and the Uniform Principal and Income Law, Miss.Code Ann. Secs. 91-17-1, et seq. (1972), are applicable to the Anderson trust.

In a decision rendered by letter dated December 26, 1986, and by declaratory judgment construing will entered April 10, 1987, the Court found that a valid and enforceable private educational testamentary trust has been created under Item IX of the will of Charles Maurice Anderson; that the term of said trust commenced on December 12, 1984, the date of the testator's death, and will continue thereafter for a period of twenty-five (25) years or twenty-one (21) years from and after the death of Howard W. Davis, whichever first occurs; that the trust will be unenforceable only to the extent that the term may exceed the lifetime of Howard W. Davis, plus twenty-one years; and, by reasons thereof, the term of the trust does not violate the Rule against Perpetuities and does not constitute an unlawful restraint on alienation.

The Court further declared that Howard W. Davis holds a non-possessory vested remainder interest in trust property, which is subject to complete defeasance in favor of the heirs of his body in the event he should die prior to termination of the trust term, and said vested remainder interest is transferable by conveyance or devise with right of possession and enjoyment to vest upon termination of the trust, subject to the executory interest of the heirs of the body of the said Howard W. Davis.

Under Paragraph V the Court held:

(1) That the descendants of F.A. Anderson, Sr., now living and hereafter born during the period of the trust, constitute a well defined class, and, by due diligence of the trustee, members of that class can be ascertained at all stages of trust administration.

(2) That the interests of the beneficiaries of the trust are in the income derived or to be derived from trust property to the extent that individual descendants qualify for educational benefits. There is no requirement that the descendants are to receive equal shares, nor is there any requirement that each and every descendant must receive a portion of trust income, and the court declared that the testator authorized the trustee to exercise his discretion in determining qualifications for educational benefits and the amount, time and...

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8 cases
  • Cattail v. Sass
    • United States
    • Court of Special Appeals of Maryland
    • September 15, 2006
    ...instrument, necessarily involved in the limitations therein, or . . . who can affect the vesting of the interest." Matter of Estate of Anderson, 541 So.2d 423, 430 (Miss.1989). See also Betchard v. Iverson, 35 Wash.2d 344, 212 P.2d 783, 789 (1950); Restatement (Second) of Property, Donative......
  • Cooper v. Crabb
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    • United States State Supreme Court of Mississippi
    • September 11, 1991
    ...intent we accept that the law directs our search and points first and foremost to the text the parties created. Matter of Estate of Anderson, 541 So.2d 423, 428 (Miss.1989); Ford v. Hegwood, 485 So.2d 1044, 1046 (Miss.1986). Common sense suggests the parties' writings the most reliable evid......
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    ...of all persons in being when the interest is created who can affect the vesting of the interest." In Matter of Estate of Anderson v. Deposit Guar. Nat'l Bank, 541 So.2d 423, 428 (Miss.1989). See also Carter v. Berry, 243 Miss. 321, 358, 140 So.2d 843, 846 ¶ 23. The Rule Against Perpetuities......
  • Thornhill v. Chapman
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    • July 20, 1999
    ...intent we accept that the law directs our search and points first and foremost to the text the parties created. Matter of Estate of Anderson, 541 So.2d 423,428 (Miss.1989). Common sense suggests the parties' writings the most reliable evidence of their intent. Common law directs that, where......
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