Robinson v. Robinson

• Decision Date: 26 February 1947
• Docket Number: 19
• Citation: 41 S.E.2d 282,227 N.C. 155
• Parties: ROBINSON et al. v. ROBINSON et al.
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court

41 S.E.2d 282

227 N.C. 155

ROBINSON et al. v. ROBINSON et al.

No. 19

Supreme Court of North Carolina

February 26, 1947

Civil action under Unitorm Declaratory Judgment Act, G. S. s 1-253 et seq., to determine certain questions of construction arising under the last will and testament of the late Charles H. Robinson.

Upon hearing in Superior Court these facts found by the Presiding Judge, briefly stated, are pertinent to determination of the questions involved:

1. Charles H. Robinson, resident of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, died on November 25, 1930, leaving a last will and testament, dated February 16, 1928, and a codicil thereto dated August 10, 1929. In the will this provision appears 'Fifth. I will and bequeath to my Executors hereinafter named to be held in trust for my grandchildren, all my lands in Camden County, N. C., and all my lands in Baltimore County, Md., together with any money on deposit with the C H. Robinson Co. as shown on the books of said Company in an account under the heading of 'C. H. Robinson Trust Account'. My Executors are hereby empowered to sell any part of said lands, and to use the proceeds of such sales for the improvement of the balance of the lands unsold, or to place the proceeds of such sales in Trust in some Bank or Trust Company to be held as a Trust fund for the benefit of my Grand Children, at the discretion of said Executors. When the youngest of my Grand Children shall reach the age of Twenty one years, an equal division of this Trust shall be made in value of any lands unsold and of money on deposit held in trust for my Grand Children, and conveyed to my Grand Children by my Executors, share and share alike in value. * * * Tenth. I hereby appoint as Executors of this my last Will, my son, Charles O. Robinson and sons in law, Alex S. Hanes and W. G. Gaither, to settle and distribute my estate as herein provided.'

And the codicil to the will reads as follows: 'In case my Executors consider it advisable in order to facilitate the handling of the Trust to my Grand Children provided in clause 5 of my will, to organize a Stock Company with no par value stock. They are hereby authorized to do so, and to convey the property of said trust to said Stock Company, In which case the stock of said Company is to be held in Trust in equal amounts for each of my Grand Children, and the affairs of said Company closed and a distribution of its assets made as provided in my Will equally to my Grand Children, when the youngest one of them reach the age of twenty one years.'

2. At the time of the preparation of the will, and at the time of his death, Charles H. Robinson had nine grandchildren namely, C. O. Robinson, Jr., W. B. Robinson, C. H. Robinson, Mary Leigh Gaither (now Overton), W. G. Gaither, Jr., Betty Gaither, Alex S. Hanes, Jr., Elizabeth Hanes Strubing and Charles Robinson Hanes.

3. Charles R. Hanes died September 13, 1943, without children or issue, but survived by his wife, Delphine C. Hanes, to whom by his last will and testament, prepared and executed after he had arrived at the age of twenty one years, he devised and bequeathed all of his estate for her own use and benefit forever, and appointed her as executrix with powers set out therein.

4. That said Delphine C. Hanes has since intermarried with defendant Maurice Muse.

5. All of the said grandchildren of Charles H. Robinson are now of full age, the youngest having reached the age of twenty one years on July 28, 1946.

6. The property composing the corpus of the trust estate provided for in said Fifth section of the will of Charles H. Robinson consists of certain lands and moneys.

7. The surviving executors, Alex S. Hanes having died, as trustees of the trust set up in the Fifth item of the said will, being ready and able to close the trust committed to them and to make final accounting and distribution thereof, sought the advice and direction of the court in respect, in the main, as to whether the distribution should be in eight parts to the eight surviving grandchildren, or in nine parts to them and to the widow of Charles Robinson Hanes.

The court being of opinion (1) that each of the nine grandchildren of Charles H. Robinson, as aforenamed, living at the time of his death, took under said will a vested interest in one-ninth of the said trust property, the enjoyment and possession of which being deferred until the termination of the trust, that is, when the youngest grandchild reached the age of twenty one years, and (2) that the defendant, Delphine Muse, has succeeded to the...