Johnson v. Stringer

• Decision Date: 15 January 1930
• Docket Number: 72.
• Citation: 148 A. 447,158 Md. 315
• Parties: JOHNSON ET AL. v. STRINGER ET AL.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

148 A. 447

158 Md. 315

JOHNSON ET AL. v. STRINGER ET AL.

No. 72.

Court of Appeals of Maryland

January 15, 1930

Appeal from Circuit Court No. 2 of Baltimore City; Albert S. J Owens, Judge.

Suit by Caroline Seaton Johnson and others against Catherine Gunther Stringer and others. From a decree dismissing the bill complainants appeal. Affirmed.

Argued before BOND, C.J., and URNER, ADKINS, OFFUTT, DIGGES, PARKE and SLOAN, JJ.

Wm. M. Maloy and Henry Vogt, both of Baltimore (George C. Shinn, of Washington, D. C., and Maloy, Brady & Yost, of Baltimore, on the brief), for appellants.

Wirt A. Duvall, Jr., and D. K. Este Fisher, both of Baltimore (John A. Farley and Coady & Farley, all of Baltimore, on the brief), for appellees.

DIGGES J.

The question presented for decision on this appeal is whether or not the income from certain property held by the Safe Deposit & Trust Company of Baltimore as trustee under the will of George Gunther, deceased, now being paid under the provisions of said will to Catherine G. Stringer, the daughter of the testator, can be subjected, while in the hands of such trustee, by the creditors of Catherine G. Stringer, to the payment of her debts. The bill filed by the appellant in circuit court No. 2 of Baltimore city sought to accomplish this. The defendants under the bill are Mrs. Stringer and her husband; her sister, Mrs. Cooney, and her husband; Mrs. Catherine Gunther, the mother of Mrs. Stringer; the Safe Deposit & Trust Company, a body corporate, in its individual capacity; the same corporation, as trustee under the will of George Gunther; and the same corporation, as trustee under a declaration of trust made by Mrs. Catherine Gunther, the mother. Each of these defendants filed demurrers to the bill of complaint, which were sustained by the chancellor, with leave to amend within a specified time. The complainant refused to amend, whereupon a decree was entered dismissing the bill, and this appeal followed.

George Gunther,, the father of Mrs. Stringer, died in September 1912, leaving a last will and testament by which he disposed of a large estate. After making specific bequests in comparatively small sums, the rest and residue of his estate was devised and bequeathed to the Safe Deposit & Trust Company of Baltimore, as trustee, to manage, invest, and collect the income therefrom, and after paying from said income to his widow, Catherine Gunther, $12,000 annually, and to each of his two daughters, Mrs. Stringer and Mrs. Cooney, the sum of $2,600 annually, the trustee was directed to accumulate and invest the surplus income arising from the trust estate until the death of the widow, at which time the trustee was directed to divide the property held by it into four equal portions and to transfer and deliver to each of the two sons of the testator one of these equal portions, free and discharged from any trust, while at such time the other two equal portions were directed to be still held in trust, one of said portions for the benefit of each of his two daughters, and to pay to each of them the total of the income from their respective portions, so long as the daughter entitled to that income should live, and upon the death of each of his daughters the corpus of the trust estate from which the income had been paid to the daughter so dying, it was provided, should be equally divided between the children or descendants of said daughter per stirpes, free and clear of any trust. It was specifically provided by the testator that the sum of $2,600, annually to be paid to Mrs. Stringer until the death of her mother, should be paid by the trustee "into her hands and not into the hands of another, whether claimed by her authority or otherwise"; and it was likewise specifically set out in the will that the income from the one-quarter of the estate, to which Mrs. Stringer was entitled after the death of her mother, should be paid into her hands and not into the hands of another, whether claimed by her authority or otherwise, for and during the term of her natural life. The will was probated shortly after the death of the testator, and letters of administration granted to the two sons and the widow; they being named in the will as executors. On December 16, 1912, Catherine Gunther, the widow, renounced the will and elected to take the portion of her deceased husband's estate to which the law entitled her. It appears that the two daughters were dissatisfied with the income provided for them under their father's will, and were considering contesting the will or filing proceedings for the purpose of having their remainder interest declared accelerated by their mother's renunciation. On March 20, 1913, a declaration of trust was made by the mother, Catherine Gunther, to which the two daughters and the Safe Deposit & Trust Company were parties, in the preamble to which it was declared that whereas George Gunther, late of Baltimore city, deceased, departed this life on the 5th of September, 1912, leaving a last will and testament dated May 23, 1911, which has been duly admitted to probate by the orphans' court of Baltimore city, whereby there was devised and bequeathed a portion of the estate of said deceased to the Safe Deposit & Trust Company of Baltimore in trust to pay unto the said Catherine Harvey (now Catherine Stringer) the sum of $2,600 per annum, in addition to other provisions made for her therein, and that on or about the 16th day of December, 1912, Catherine Gunther, the widow of said deceased, renounced all claim to bequests and devises made to her in said last will and testament and elected to take in lieu thereof her dower and legal share of the estate of her said husband, and that the said Catherine Harvey has expressed her dissatisfaction with the provision made for her in said will and has indicated her intention to contest said will; and whereas for the purpose of preventing any proceeding to contest the validity of said last will and testament or any of the dispositions made therein, and for the purpose of preventing any proceedings on the part of the daughters to enable them, under the doctrine of acceleration of remainders, to obtain for themselves the present enjoyment of a larger income from said estate, and for the purpose of having said daughters accept the last will and testament and all the provisions therein--the declaration of trust was executed. It is recited that in consideration of the premises and the covenants and agreements therein made by the respective parties thereto, the assumption of the trust by the Safe Deposit & Trust Company of Baltimore, and $1, the widow, Catherine Gunther, granted and assigned unto the Safe Deposit & Trust Company, subject to certain rights reserved to her, all her right, title, and interest in and to the personal estate of her husband, George Gunther, in trust to hold the same, collect the income issuing thereout, and pay from the net income unto her daughter Catherine the sum of $9,400 per annum in equal monthly installments, "into her hands and not into the hands of another, whether claimed by her authority or otherwise," until the death of her (the mother), or until such time as there should be instituted by or on behalf of her said daughter, Catherine, any suit or proceeding to dispute or contest the validity of the will of her husband (George Gunther), or until such time as there should be instituted by or on behalf of her said daughter, Catherine, proceedings to accelerate the remainder provided for the said daughter by the will of her father, and so obtain and enjoy a larger income from the estate of her father, or until the passage of any final decree or order of a court of equity accelerating the said remainder in favor of the said daughter, Catherine, whichever of said events may first occur. This declaration of trust also provided that should the daughter Catherine predecease her mother, leaving descendants surviving her, and at the time of her death being still entitled to receive said annual sum of $9,400, in that event the said sum should be continued for her descendants during the life of the said Catherine Gunther until any one of the contingencies set forth above for the discontinuance of the payment should happen. It further provided that if the entire income from the trust estate thereby created should be insufficient to pay the sum of $9,400 per annum to each of her daughters or their descendants, the deficiency should be made out of the principal of the said trust estate. A like provision was made for the daughter Mrs. Cooney. The two daughters each covenanted for themselves and their heirs that they would accept and abide by the last will and testament of George Gunther and all provisions thereof; that they would not contest its validity or the validity of any of the dispositions made therein; that they would not take any proceedings to have determined the question of the acceleration of the remainders created by that will that had arisen by reason of the renunciation of said Catherine Gunther. At the time of the distribution by the executors of George Gunther, the portion of the personal estate to which the widow, Catherine Gunther,...