Thomson v. First Nat. Bank of Jackson, 38124

• Decision Date: 03 December 1951
• Docket Number: No. 38124,38124
• Citation: 55 So.2d 422,212 Miss. 691
• Parties: THOMSON et al. v. FIRST NAT. BANK OF JACKSON et al.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 422

55 So.2d 422

212 Miss. 691

THOMSON et al. v. FIRST NAT. BANK OF JACKSON et al.

No. 38124.

Supreme Court of Mississippi, Division A.

Dec. 3, 1951.

Green, Green & Cheney, Jackson, for appellants.

Flowers, Brown & Burns and Milton H. Mitchell, all of Jackson, for appellees.

ETHRIDGE, Commissioner.

Appellants, beneficiaries under a testamentary trust, assign as errors the interpretation by the chancery court of the period of duration of the trust, and the failure of that court to give the trustee certain instructions to be followed in the administration of the trust estate.

Mrs. Mathilde Lacey Yates, a widow 61 years of age, and a resident of Jackson, Mississippi, died on December 28, 1948, leaving a last will and testament dated August 21, 1947, and written wholly in her own handwriting, as follows:

'August 21--1947

'I, Mathilde Lacey Yates, being of sound mind do here make my last will and testament.

'To Lacey Hicks Thomson, my niece, and her three children (Lacey, Betty, and Bob Thomson) I leave my entire estate with the exceptions of the four following bequests:

'(To Lula Morgan I bequeath $1000 in cash.

'(To Carolyn Hogan Sheppard I leave $100 in cash.

'(To Lottie Carter I leave $100 in cash.

'(To Betsy Watson I leave $100 in cash.

'My inheritance tax shall be paid out of the $10,000 in E. Bonds in bank box.

'I owe Marguerite Hill $8500. This note is to be paid out of any money left of E. Bonds after inheritance tax is paid and the sale of just enough Capital National Bank in Jackson stock to complete payment of this $8500.

'I appoint the Capital National Bank in Jackson, Miss., as executor of my estate for ten years and then Lacey Hicks Thomson may assume the management of same----

'I should like the income paid to Lacey Hicks Thomson monthly for hers and the childrens' maintenance----

'In case of serious sickness or urgent repairs to property, money should be available thru sale of enough Capital National Bank stock to cover same----

'Stocks, leases, jewelry, insurance policies are all in Box III.

'Lacey Hicks Thompson must agree to any sale of any part of the estate.

'Mathilde Lacey Yates.

'The three diamond rings are Lacey Hicks Thomson's----

'Ernestine Allen, Wit.

'Anne Nichols, Wit.'

The estate was large. It consisted in part of a one-half interest in a plantation in Yazoo County, a laundry building in Laurel, both of which were under lease, other real estate, including a residence in Jackson, and a considerable amount of stocks and bonds. The will was probated in solemn form in the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, and appellee, First National Bank of Jackson, qualified as executor. Mrs. Thomson, an appellant, was the daughter of testatrix' sister and the only heir of testatrix, and the evidence showed that testatrix had a deep affection for Mrs. Thomson and her three children, the other appellants, whose ages were 15, 13 and 11 years at the time of the death of Mrs. Yates. Mrs. Thomson and the father of her children are divorced, he has remarried, and makes no contribution to their support.

In April, 1949, Mrs. Thomson and her three children, devisees and legatees under the above will, and beneficiaries of the trust created by it, filed a bill of complaint in the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, naming as defendants the First National Bank of Jackson and T. M. Salisbury. The bill averred the facts outlined above; that there were certain, definite, and immediate problems as to the management of the trust property; that the residence in Jackson could be sold to Salisbury at a favorable price; that the will was ambiguous and of doubtful import; that the complainants as beneficiaries each received under the will a one-fourth interest as tenants in common; that the will contained no directions for the investment of the corpus of the estate by the trustee; and that Mrs. Thomson consented to the sale of the residence to Salisbury. The bill prayed that the court take jurisdiction as to the construction of the will, that it determine the nature of the title of complainants, how long the trust shall continue, the responsibilities of the executor-trustee under the instrument, and that the court authorize the sale to Salisbury. The bank filed an answer substantially admitting the averments of the complaint and joined in the prayer of the bill. Some testimony was heard, the substance of which was that the sale price to Salisbury of the residence in Jackson, was reasonable, that Mrs. Thomson had no business experience in the management of an estate of this size, that the witnesses, Mrs. Thomson and friends and business acquaintances of testatrix, knew that she intended for the bank to manage the estate and pay the net income to Mrs. Thomson for herself and her children.

The final decree of the chancery court provided in part as follows: '* * * that said instrument, being the last will and testament of Mathilde Lacey Yates, deceased, dated August 21, 1947, and duly probated in this cause, is sufficiently clear in its language and intent in the light of the evidence before the Court to establish an active workable and enforceable trust with the First National Bank of Jackson, Jackson, Mississippi, as Executor-Trustee, for a period of ten years from and after the date of the death of said testatrix on December 28, 1948.

'The Court further funds, and so decrees, that the said will vests ample power and authority to sell and dispose of the properties, real and personal, in the estate and to make timely and proper investment and investment of the funds of the estate subject to the proper orders of this Court in respect to all these matters.

'The said Executor-Trustee is therefore directed to take over said estate as provided in said will, and to administer the same as an active trust in accordance with its terms as hereinabove indicated and...