Westfield Trust Co. v. Beekman

• Citation: 128 A. 791
• Decision Date: 23 April 1925
• Docket Number: No. 54-334.,54-334.
• Parties: WESTFIELD TRUST CO. et al. v. BEEKMAN et al.
• Court: New Jersey Court of Chancery

128 A. 791

WESTFIELD TRUST CO. et al.

v. BEEKMAN et al.

No. 54-334.

Court of Chancery of New Jersey.

April 23, 1925.

(Syllabus by the Court.)

(Additional Syllabus by Editorial Staff.)

Bill by the Westfield Trust Company and others against Charles K. Beekman and others for construction of the will of Louis Keller, deceased. Will construed.

The bill is filed for construction of certain paragraphs of the will of Louis Keller, who died February 16, 1922, a resident of Union county, in this state. The will is dated January 30, 1922. Its first three paragraphs provide for the payment of debts and bequeath certain personal property to his nephew Charles K. Beekman and his cousin Natalie Wilmer Wood. The rest of the will follows:

Fourth: I hereby give, devise and bequeath all the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, real personal and mixed, and wheresoever situated, whereof I may be seized or possessed, or to which I may be in any manner entitled, or in which I may be interested at the time of my death, unto my executors, and trustees hereinafter named, and to their heirs and assigns forever.

In trust, nevertheless, as follows:

Fifth: I do will and direct, and do make the following charges against the same and do impose upon my said trustees the following obligations, viz:

(a) To continue to conduct the Social Register, on the same lines as the same has been conducted by me, unless and until a flattering offer is obtained from persons who will conduct it upon the same lines and who can be relied upon to maintain the standard which I have sustained.

(b) To retain in the employ of the Social Register Bertha M. Eastmond and John Metterhouse. during their lives, and to pay to said Bertha M. Eastmond one-tenth of the annual net profits derived therefrom, less the amount of her annual salary, and to provide for the said payment to her, even if the Social Register be sold; and to pay to said John Metterhouse, one-twentieth, of the annual net profits derived therefrom, less the amount of his annual salary, and to provide for the said payment to him, even if the Social Register be sold.

Sixth: It is my will and I do order and direct that the remainder of the income from my estate shall be paid and disposed of as follows:

(a) One-fourth portion thereof shall be paid by my said trustees annually, to my cousin, Josephine De Ronje, for and during her natural life.

(b) One-fourth portion thereof shall be paid by said trustees annually, to my cousin Natalie Wilmer Wood, wife of Walter Wood, during her natural life, and upon her demise, said portion shall be paid annually to her heirs.

(c) One-fourth portion thereof shall be paid by said trustees annually, to Annie Townsend Ashmore, for and during her natural life.

(d) One-fourth portion thereof shall be paid by my said trustees annually, to Heloise Beekman. wife of David Leavitt Hough, Catherine Beekman, widow of the late John W. Huger, and Margreta R. daughter of the late William B. Beekman, in equal shares, during their joint lives, and upon the death of one or more of them, then to the survivors or survivor of them, and after the death of all of them, then the said one-fourth portion shall be paid to my nephew, Charles K. Beekman.

Seventh: I do further order and direct my said trustees to pay to Solon P. Norton, husband of my stepsister, Marie Keller, the sum of one thousand dollars annually during the natural life of my said stepsister.

Eighth: I do order and direct my said trustees to cancel and deliver up to the Calumet Club of New York City, all bonds of the said Calumet Club issued in my name or in my possession, at the time of my demise.

Ninth: I do further order and direct that my said trustees construct the house planned by Architect Harold Tatton. on my property opposite the gate of the Baltusrol Golf Club, in the township of Springfield. Union county. New Jersey, and lease it in accordance with my promise to my friend, Edith Morgan Williams, of New York City, during the term of her life at a rental of ten per cent. of the cost of construction of said house.

Tenth: In the event that the Baltusrol Golf Club situated in Springfield township. Union county, New Jersey, should at any time in the future desire to shift the boundary lines of its property and acquire more of my lands, I do order and direct my said trustees to deal with the representatives or authorities of said golf club, in the same manner that I have always shown in my transaction with them.

Eleventh: I do order and direct my said trustees to retain my farmer J. M. Sweeney in his position as filled by him, and I do further order and direct my said trustees to pay him in addition to his present earnings, twenty per cent. of the net earnings of my (fairy and farm for at least ten years, or until the sale of the said dairy land becomes imperative.

Twelfth: I hereby nominate and appoint my nephew Charles Keller Beekman, of New York City, and my friend, Henry A. Van Liew of Baltusrol, Union county, New Jersey, executors and trustees of this my last will and testament, and I do hereby authorize and empower my said executors and trustees, or their successors, to grant, bargain, sell or convey, and dispose of any lands, tenements, or property, real or personal, whereof I may be seized at the time of my demise, or of which they may be seized or possessed as my said executors and trustees, and upon any such sale thereof, to execute, acknowledge and deliver all necessary and proper deeds or instruments of conveyance in law for vesting in the purchaser or purchasers the title thereof in fee, and I hereby authorize and empower my said executors and trustees, or their successors, from time to time, in their discretion to call for payment of and to sell and transfer all my property or securities in or upon which my estate, or any part thereof, may be invested and the same again to re-invest in other securities. I do hereby direct and authorize my said executors and trustees, or their successors, to conduct my business known as the Social Register and any and all my other business and affairs, for the purpose of creating, providing for, and maintaining the income necessary to defray and pay the annuities and other charges in this my will, created, imposed and provided for. * * *

Mark Townsend, Jr., Charles O. Truex, and William E. Decker, all of Jersey City, and Harold R. Medina and W. H. L. Edwards, both of New York City, for complainants.

John R. Hardin and Corwin Howell, both of Newark, and Louis H. Porter, F. Carrol Taylor, and William A. W. Stewart, all of New York City, for defendants Natalie Wilmer Wood and others.

Elmer L. McKirgan and Herbert Clark Gilson, both of Summit, and Ralph S. Wolcott and William L. Bainton, both of New York City, for defendants Charles K. Beekman and others.

FIELDER, V. C. As to paragraph 5 it is argued that the trustees may never obtain a flattering offer for the Social Register from persons who will conduct it upon the same lines and who can be relied on to maintain the standard established by the testator, or that such offer may not be obtained within a period of lives in being and 21 years thereafter, and that the trust is void as opposed to the rule against perpetuities because the trustees are directed and charged with a positive obligation to conduct the Social Register, unless and until an offer of the kind described is obtained from persons described. Before taking up this provision, I would observe that the will is divided into paragraphs apparently for the sole purpose of stating separately the various objects the testator had in mind, and that the order in which the paragraphs appear is of no significance. For instance, had the will been drawn in orderly fashion, paragraph 7 would precede paragraph 6; paragraph 8 would precede paragraph 4; and paragraphs 9 and 11 precede paragraph 6; and so the arrangement and numbering of the separate paragraphs are of little, if any, assistance in ascertaining the testator's scheme of disposal of his estate, but the entire will must be read for the purpose of giving effect to his intentions.

By paragraph 4 the testator gives his entire residuary estate, including the Social Register, to his executors and trustees, in trust for certain purposes, and he then proceeds to set out those purposes in paragraphs which he numbered 5, 6, 7, 9, and 11. He prefaces paragraph 5 with the words:

"I do will and direct and do make the following charges against the same (the entire residuary estate) and do impose upon my said trustees the following obligations."

In ascertaining the meaning and intent of these words and of the words with respect to the Social Register which follow, paragraph 12 and the whole scheme of the will must be considered. By paragraph 12 he appoints executors and trustees; authorizes and empowers them to sell real and personal property; directs and authorizes them to conduct the Social Register and all other business and affairs for the purpose of creating, providing for, and maintaining the income necessary to pay the annuities and other charges created, imposed, and provided for by paragraphs 5, 6, 7, 9, and 11.

The Social Register is an incorporated company in which the testator held the entire capital stock. The profits earned by the company in his lifetime made this stock of great value, and it forms a large part of the testator's residuary estate. He had established the business, and evidently was proud of its financial success and of the position he believed it had attained among those who consider themselves socially prominent. He also believed that the stock would be sought after, and he was concerned that it should not pass into the hands of those who might not maintain what he deemed was a high class social directory, and with these thoughts in mind he...