Smith v. Baltimore Trust Co.

• Decision Date: 14 January 1919
• Docket Number: 18.
• Citation: Smith v. Baltimore Trust Co., 133 Md. 404, 105 A. 534 (Md. 1919)
• Parties: SMITH v. BALTIMORE TRUST CO. et al.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

105 A. 534

133 Md. 404

SMITH v. BALTIMORE TRUST CO. et al.

No. 18.

Court of Appeals of Maryland

January 14, 1919

Appeal from Circuit Court of Baltimore City; Morris A. Soper, Judge.

Bill by the Baltimore Trust Company and Henry C. Kennard, trustees against Isabelle E. Smith and others, asking for a construction of part of a will. From a decree construing the will, the named defendant appeals. Affirmed.

Argued before BOYD, C.J., and BRISCOE, THOMAS, PATTISON, URNER STOCKBRIDGE, and CONSTABLE, JJ.

Charles F. Stein, of Baltimore (Richard E. Preece and Frank E. Welsh Jr., both of Baltimore, on the brief), for appellant.

John Watson, Jr., and Joseph S. Goldsmith, both of Baltimore, for appellees.

PATTISON J.

By his will executed on the 15th day of July, 1896, James E Clayton, after making certain bequests to Miss Welham, of England, who afterwards became his wife, and after providing for the release of a mortgage against his aunt, Mrs. Tweedy, divided the rest and residue of his estate in two equal parts. One of these parts he devised and bequeathed unto the appellees the Baltimore Trust & Guarantee Company and Henry C. Kennard, in trust for his sister Nannie Clayton. The other part he devised and bequeathed to said trustees, in trust for his three aunts, Mary Anne Smith, Elizabeth Margaret Manning, and Celina Frances Tweedy.

In respect to the trust created for the benefit of his sister, the will directs his trustees:

"To pay the net income derived from one-half thereof to my sister Nannie Clayton for and during the time of her natural life and from and immediately after her death to pay said income in equal portions, to my aunts Celina Frances Tweedy, Elizabeth Margaret Manning, and Mary Anne Smith, for and during the term of their respective lives. *** If either of my said aunts should die leaving children then her portion of said income and the portion of the corpus of my estate from which said income is derived shall go to and become the absolute property of such children. But if either of my said aunts should die leaving no children, then her portion of said income shall be paid to her surviving sister or sisters during their respective lives with remainder of the corpus out of which said income is derived to the children of such survivor or survivors per stirpes. If, however, my sister Nannie Clayton should die leaving children these devises over to her aunts and their children shall be void and the one-half of my estate out of which her income is derived shall go to her children absolutely."

The will then provides:

"As to the other half of the net income derived from said rest and residue I request and direct my said executors and trustees to pay it over in equal shares of one-third to each of my aunts, Celina Frances Tweedy, Elizabeth Margaret Manning, and Mary Anne Smith for and during the term of their respective lives. Upon the death of either of my said aunts leaving children, then a portion of the corpus of my estate equal in value to that from which the income payable to said aunt for life had been derived shall be transferred to such children per stirpes. If any of my said aunts shall die leaving no children then the portion of the net income of my estate payable to such aunt for life shall be divided equally between my surviving aunts for their respective lives. *** If at the death of any of my said aunts without children *** there be one aunt surviving and the children of a deceased aunt, then the surviving aunt shall receive during life one-half of the income payable to such childless deceased aunt and the corpus from which the other half of the income is derived shall go to the children of the deceased aunt who died, leaving children. If my sister Nannie Clayton should survive all of my said aunts and then die leaving no children or descendants in the direct line, it is my will and I hereby direct that the corpus of my estate out of which the portion of the income payable to her is derived to be transferred to the children of my said aunts per stirpes, the children of a deceased child to take the parent's share."

James E. Clayton died on or about the 18th day of June, 1902, survived not only by his wife, Alice Clayton, and his sister, Nannie Clayton, both of whom are now living, but also by his said three aunts, all of whom have since died. Elizabeth M. Manning died on March 23, 1906, leaving children and grandchildren of a deceased child surviving her. Mary Anne Smith died on the 30th day of July, 1906, leaving children surviving her, one of whom, Isabelle E. Smith, is the appellant in this case. The last surviving aunt, Celina Frances Tweedy, died in the month of February, 1917, without child, children, or descendants in the direct line.

The bill in this case was filed by the appellees, trustees aforesaid, asking for a construction of that part of the will creating the trust estate for the benefit of the aunts, that they may be guided and controlled thereby in the disposition of the one-sixth part of the "rest and residue" of the testator's estate from which the income payable to Mrs. Tweedy was derived. It is claimed by the appellant that upon the death of her aunt, Mrs. Tweedy, the portion of the corpus of the estate from which the income payable to her had been derived passed under the will to the children of her...