Reeder v. Reeder
| Decision Date | 27 June 1918 |
| Docket Number | 32011 |
| Citation | 168 N.W. 122,184 Iowa 1 |
| Parties | CHARLES G. REEDER, Trustee, Appellee, v. HERMAN E. REEDER, Appellant |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Appeal from Linn District Court.--JOHN T. MOFFIT, Judge.
ACTION to construe a will and to determine the power of the trustee named in the will. Opinion states the facts.
Affirmed.
Crissman & Linville, for appellant.
M. D Porter, for appellee.
On the 8th day of April, 1898, one P. W. Reeder died testate, leaving surviving him a wife and three sons, Charles G. Reeder, plaintiff herein, George K. Reeder, and Herman E. Reeder, the defendant. His will provided that all his just debts be first fully paid and satisfied, and then, after making some bequests, disposed of the remainder as follows:
"All the remaining portion of my property both real and personal, possessed at the time of my death, shall be turned over to my wife and my son, Charles G. Reeder, they to act as trustees, and as such to hold and manage the same for the benefit and support of my wife during her natural life the same as if I were living, and upon her death the property so held to be sold, whenever a sale can be made without sacrifice of price, and the proceeds distributed in equal portions, share and share alike, among my three sons."
In the will, his widow and the said Charles G. Reeder were named as executors, and as such, qualified and gave bond, and entered upon the discharge of their duties. The widow elected to take under the will. On the 2d day of March, 1903, the widow and Charles G. Reeder made their report to the court, as executors of the will, and were discharged; and on the same day, the court confirmed their appointment as trustees under the will, and as such they continued to act until the death of Sophia K. Reeder, the widow, in 1914, and Charles has continued to act as trustee ever since. All the real estate has been sold, except Lot 1 in Block 27, and the adjoining 40 feet of Lot 2 in Block 27, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and the plaintiff claims to have an advantageous offer for this property.
It appears that doubts have arisen as to the right of this plaintiff, as trustee, to sell the real estate. This action is, therefore, brought to construe the will, and to have it judicially determined whether the will gave to him the power which he has exercised, and is now seeking to exercise, in the disposition of the real estate owned by testator at the time of his death; whether, under the will, as surviving trustee, he is invested with power to sell the real estate and distribute the proceeds as provided in the will. The court below adjudged that all the acts of Sophia Reeder and the plaintiff, as trustees, and all acts in relation to the real estate done after the death of Sophia by the plaintiff as surviving trustee, were within the powers granted them in the will, and ratified and confirmed the same, and further ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the plaintiff, as surviving trustee, was invested with the power to sell the remaining real estate and to distribute the proceeds as provided in the will. From this decree, one of the sons, Herman E. Reeder, appeals.
P. W Reeder was, at the time of his death, the owner of the land in controversy. He had a right to make such disposition of it as to him seemed best. He gave to his wife a life estate in the property, appointed his wife and his son trustees to hold and manage it during her life, the proceeds to be applied to the support and maintenance of the wife during her life. He further ordered that, upon the death of his wife, the property should be sold and the proceeds divided among his children. He did not by name designate the person intended by him to make the sale. He seems to have had special confidence in the son Charles G., and gave him the power, in connection with the wife, to hold, control, and manage the entire estate for the use and benefit of the wife during her life. He ordered the property sold, upon her death, and the proceeds divided. He made no specific devise of the remainder of the property. His intent was that the title to the property should not pass to his sons, and that someone...
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