Rogaris v. Albert
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts |
| Writing for the Court | COWIN, J. |
| Citation | 730 NE 2d 869,431 Mass. 833 |
| Decision Date | 07 January 2000 |
| Parties | PETER J. ROGARIS v. RONALD L. ALBERT, individually and as trustee, & others. |
431 Mass. 833
730 NE 2d 869
v.
RONALD L. ALBERT, individually and as trustee,1 & others.2
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Suffolk.
January 7, 2000.
June 27, 2000.
Present: MARSHALL, C.J., ABRAMS, LYNCH, GREANEY, IRELAND, SPINA, & COWIN, JJ.
David Berman for the defendant.
Roy P. Giarrusso for the plaintiff.
Stephen Wainwright, for the interveners, was present but did not argue.
Stephen P. Bik & Joel A. Stein, for The Massachusetts Conveyancers Association & another, amici curiae, submitted a brief.
COWIN, J.
A judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts has certified three questions to this court, pursuant to S.J.C. Rule 1:03, as appearing in 382 Mass. 700 (1981). These questions arise from a dispute over a purchase and sale agreement for real property between Peter J. Rogaris (buyer) and Ronald L. Albert (seller). The seller, the trustee of a nominee trust, signed a purchase and sale agreement to sell the buyer property that was a trust asset. The questions are:
"1. Does Massachusetts law require the consent of the Trust beneficiaries to a sale of a trust asset, prior to the termination of the Trust?
"3. Where a Massachusetts declaration of trust contains, inter alia, the following paragraph:
`No person dealing with the Trustee hereunder shall be under any obligation or liability to see to the application of any purchase money or to any other money or property loaned or delivered or transferred to the Trustee or to see that the terms and conditions of this Trust have been complied with. Any person dealing with the trust property or any Trustee, may rely fully and without further inquiry on a certificate signed by any person appearing, from the records of the Registry of Deeds in which this Trust is recorded, to be a Trustee hereunder, as to who are the Trustees or the Beneficiaries hereunder, or as to the authority of any trustee to act, or as to the existence or non-existence of any fact or facts which constitute or may constitute conditions precedent to any acts or action by any Trustee, or which are in any other manner germane to the affairs of the Trust including, without limitation, the fact of whether or not directions authorizing the Trustee to so act have been given by the Beneficiaries as in this Trust provided,'
and where a prospective purchaser under a purchase-and-sale agreement did not rely on any certificate and the agreement was signed by the trustee but without any indication that he was signing as trustee, is the agreement enforceable?"
We answer the third question, "No," and consequently do not reach questions one and two.
1. Background. We rely on the facts as recited by the District Court judge in his memorandum and order on summary judgment. On September 17, 1997, the seller executed a purchase and sale agreement with the buyer for the sale of real property for $375,000. The buyer did not know that on October 27, 1995, the seller had executed a declaration of trust creating the Ronbert Realty Trust (trust) designating himself as trustee and naming his four children as beneficiaries. The buyer also did not know that, on...
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Galdjie v. Darwish, B163970.
...as a legitimate exercise of the trustee power even though the instrument fails to reference the trust"]; but see Rogaris v. Albert (2000) 431 Mass. 833, 730 N.E.2d 869 [where trustee signed contract to sell real estate as an individual and made no mention of his role as trustee, trust was n......
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Robbins v. Krock, 07-P-1459.
...otherwise 896 N.E.2d 637 indicated by the contract. It is not the role of the court to alter the parties' agreement." Rogaris v. Albert, 431 Mass. 833, 835, 730 N.E.2d 869 (2000) (citations omitted). We are guided by "[j]ustice, common sense and the probable intent of the parties" when inte......
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Bongaards v. Millen, SJC-08868.
...for the beneficiaries of the trust, and she lacked power to convey the property in her individual capacity. See Rogaris v. Albert, 431 Mass. 833, 836 We reject the plaintiff's argument that the 1979 deed, together with Jean's subsequent conduct, should be considered as manifestations that D......
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Pdc-El Paso Meriden, Llc v. Alstom Power, Inc., 996016BLS
...terms and conditions. But it specifically "is not the role of the [C]ourt to alter the parties' agreement." Rogaris v. Albert, 431 Mass. 833, 835 (2000). What happened in the period from May of 1999, when BVCI announced its concerns about proceeding, through Claude Darmon's ominous "NOT to ......
-
Galdjie v. Darwish, B163970.
...as a legitimate exercise of the trustee power even though the instrument fails to reference the trust"]; but see Rogaris v. Albert (2000) 431 Mass. 833, 730 N.E.2d 869 [where trustee signed contract to sell real estate as an individual and made no mention of his role as trustee, trust was n......
-
Robbins v. Krock, 07-P-1459.
...otherwise 896 N.E.2d 637 indicated by the contract. It is not the role of the court to alter the parties' agreement." Rogaris v. Albert, 431 Mass. 833, 835, 730 N.E.2d 869 (2000) (citations omitted). We are guided by "[j]ustice, common sense and the probable intent of the parties" when inte......
-
Bongaards v. Millen, SJC-08868.
...for the beneficiaries of the trust, and she lacked power to convey the property in her individual capacity. See Rogaris v. Albert, 431 Mass. 833, 836 We reject the plaintiff's argument that the 1979 deed, together with Jean's subsequent conduct, should be considered as manifestations that D......
-
Pdc-El Paso Meriden, Llc v. Alstom Power, Inc., 996016BLS
...terms and conditions. But it specifically "is not the role of the [C]ourt to alter the parties' agreement." Rogaris v. Albert, 431 Mass. 833, 835 (2000). What happened in the period from May of 1999, when BVCI announced its concerns about proceeding, through Claude Darmon's ominous "NOT to ......