Strauss v. van Beuren
| Decision Date | 07 October 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 75-286-A,75-286-A |
| Citation | 119 R.I. 376,378 A.2d 1057 |
| Parties | Elliott MacGregor STRAUSS et al. v. Michael C. van BEUREN et al. ppeal. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
This is a will construction case. The plaintiffs are the trustees under the will of Mary A. van Beuren, late of Middletown. It is represented that all known parties who may have any interest in the cause have been joined as defendants. A guardian ad litem has been appointed to represent the interests of the minor defendants and the contingent interest of persons not in being, unascertained, or who might otherwise be affected by the cause. In the Superior Court the trustees and the adult defendants urged one construction of the will, the guardian another. The trial justice accepted the construction advanced by the trustees and the guardian appealed.
It appears that the testatrix died on February 25, 1951, survived by an only son, Archbold. He died on December 8, 1974, leaving four surviving children. Not long thereafter, the trustees were requested to exercise their discretionary power under the testatrix's testamentary trust to make principal distributions to two of those children. In their complaint the trustees indicate that they were prepared to honor those requests, but that they were uncertain whether the distributions should be charged against separate trusts or against separate accounts in a single trust, established in each instance for the initial benefit of the requesting child. It was to resolve that uncertainty that the trustees commenced this action.
We begin with a brief review of the pertinent dispositive provisions. They are contained in Article Fourth of the will, 1 in which the testatrix created a trust of the residue of her estate. Subdivision (a) of that article directs the trustees to pay the net income during Archbold's lifetime to him and to each of his living children 21 years of age or older. Subdivision (b) instructs them, upon Archbold's death, to pay the net income to his then living children and to the issue of any deceased child 2 and, upon the death of the last survivor of those of Archbold's children and descendants who were living at the time of the testatrix's death, to distribute the corpus to Archbold's then living children and to the issue of any deceased child. Finally, subdivision (c) authorizes the trustees following Archbold's death to make discretionary payments of principal to his children after they have reached the age of 35.
The issue is whether in the execution of this estate plan, and particularly in making the requested principal distributions, the trustees should administer the funds in their possession as a single trust or as multiple trusts. On this question, as on others relating to the construction of wills, our initial and primary obligation is to ascertain, if possible, the dispositive intent expressed in the will in its entirety and in the light of the circumstances attendant on its formulation. If ascertainable and not contrary to law, that intention must be given effect. Lux v. Lux, 109 R.I. 592, 596, 288 A.2d 701, 704 (1972); MacDonald v. Manning, 103 R.I. 538, 544-45, 239 A.2d 640, 644 (1968).
Each of the parties argues that the testatrix's intention is controlled by her use of the singular or the plural of certain key words and expressions. The plaintiffs, for example, rely particularly on language appearing in subdivision (c) of Article Fourth which they assert would be utterly without meaning unless the will were construed as manifesting an intention to create multiple trusts upon Archbold's death. By that language the testatrix authorized her trustees, "(w)ith respect to each trust hereinabove created in subdivision (b) hereof * * * after the death of my son, to withdraw (funds) from the principal of each of such trusts " and to pay such withdrawals to the grandchild "from the principal from which such grandchild is then receiving income * * *." (Emphasis added.)
In addition, they call our attention to Article Fifth which permits income to be applied for the benefit of minor beneficiaries "under any of the trusts created above in Article Fourth" and for payment of principal remaining in "the particular trust " (emphasis added), and to Article Sixth, which sets out the trustees' powers and provides in subdivision (f) for the cost of investment counsel to be apportioned among the "several trust estates " and in subdivision (i) for the improvement of any real property in "the trust estates." (Emphasis added.)
The guardian, on the other hand, argues that the language in subdivision (c) of Article Fourth relied on by plaintiffs indicates an intention to create several accounts within a single trust, rather than multiple trusts. He also points to subdivision (a) of Article Fourth which provides that income from "the trust " during Archbold's life should be divided between him and his children, and to subdivisions (h) and (j) of Article Sixth, which refer to "my residuary trust created under the provisions of Article Fourth." (Emphasis added.)
We are mindful that some courts in searching for dispositive intention have held that the use of the singular or the plural of a word like "trust," though not conclusive, is entitled to serious consideration. See Huntington Nat'l Bank v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 90 F.2d 876, 878 (6th Cir. 1937); Langford Inv. Co. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 77 F.2d 468, 470 (5th Cir. 1935). We are also aware that there are other cases where such usage is of no particular significance. As Judge Learned Hand so aptly said in one such case, "We do not believe that it would make the least difference * * * how often, or how consistently, the testator used the singular or the plural * * *." McHarg v. Fitzpatrick, 210 F.2d 792, 794 (2d Cir. 1954).
In this case, the testatrix's indiscriminate use of both the singular and the plural, rather than shedding any light on her intention, shrouds it in obscurity; instead of resolving doubts, it creates ambiguity. Moreover, her lack of consistency in this regard does not seem to be reasonably attributable to oversight or, as plaintiffs contend, to "somewhat casual drafting." Rather, it suggests that she failed to consider whether her estate plan would be better implemented by establishing a single trust or multiple trusts. Certainly, appropriate language for effectuating either choice was readily available and could have been utilized had the question either occurred to her or been brought to her attention.
In these circumstances a search for a hidden meaning would be fruitless, for none exists. What we do instead is attempt to discover what the testatrix would have done had sh...
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