In re Woollard's Will
| Decision Date | 13 June 1946 |
| Citation | 68 N.E.2d 181,295 N.Y. 390 |
| Parties | In re WOOLLARD'S WILL. |
| Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department.
Proceeding in the matter of the will of William E. Woollard, deceased, wherein Ernest B. Morris and others, individually and as trustees under the will, for the benefit of Harriet Holland Woollard, during her life, applied for a determination as to the construction and effect of the will in respect to the life beneficiary's powers and the trustees' powers and duties. From an order, 269 App.Div. 866, 57 N.Y.S.2d 1, of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the third judicial department, entered July 9, 1945, which affirmed, by a divided court, a decree of the Albany County Surrogate's Court (Rogan, S.), construing the portions of the will of William E. Woollard, deceased, which created a trust for the benefit of his widow, Ernest B. Morris and others, individually and as trustees, and others, appeal. The first decretal paragraph of the decree of the Surrogate's Court provided: ‘Ordered, Adjudged and Decreed that the true construction and effect of the Last Will and Testament of William E. Woollard, deceased, and particularly paragraphs ‘Second’ and ‘3rd’ thereof, relating to the payment of the income and principal of the residuary estate of said deceased, is construed as giving to Harriet Holland Woollard, widow of said deceased, an absolute right to all of the income and all or any part of the corpus and principal of the said trust estate created by said Last Will and Testament of said deceased as she shall deem necessary for her maintenance, comfort or well being, and said Harriet Holland Woollard, shall have the right to demand the payment and transfer to her of the whole or any part of the principal and corpus of said estate at any time, in her discretion, whenever the said Harriet Holland Woollard shall deem it necessary for her maintenance, comfort and well being, and upon such demand, or demands, the said Trustees are hereby ordered and directed to fully comply therewith, and it is'.
Order of Appellate Division and decree of Surrogate's Court affirmed as modified.
LEWIS and DYE, JJ., dissenting. Stanley H. Fuld and Burr F. Coleman, both of New York City, and Edward G. Dillon, of Albany, for appellants Ernest B. Morris and Elizabeth Woollard Morris.
Eugene G. Hess, of Albany, as special guardian of infants appellants.
J. Stanley Carter, of Albany, for respondent Harriet Holland Woollard.
The first decretal paragraph of the decree of the Surrogate's Court of Albany County construing the will of William E. Woollard, deceased, which has been affirmed by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, Third Judicial Department, should be modified to read as follows: ‘Ordered, Adjudged and Decreed that the true construction and effect of the Last Will and Testament of William E. Woollard, deceased, and particularly paragraphs ‘Second’ and ‘3rd’ thereof, relating to the payment of the income and principal of the residuary estate of said deceased, is construed as giving to Harriet Holland Woollard, widow of said deceased, the right to all of the income and to such part of the corpus and principal of the said trust estate created by said Last Will and Testament of said deceased as she shall deem necessary for her maintenance, comfort or well being,...
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...to that in clause eighth, that actual 'need' of a beneficiary is not a measure of 'comfort' and 'support'-see In the Matter of Woollard's Will, 295 N.Y. 390, 68 N.E.2d 181; In re Walsh's Will, 193 Misc. 785, 85 N.Y.S.2d 207, and New Jersey Title Guarantee & Trust Co. v. Dailey, 123 N.J.Eq. ......
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...Court Dec. 39,889(M). Petitioners argue that the power at issue here is similar to the powers to invade corpus granted in In re Woollard's Will, 295 N.Y. 390 (1946), and Estate of Springett, 25 Misc.2d 68, 206 N.Y.S.2d 48 (Surr. Ct. 1960), and should be treated similarly. In Woollard, the r......