Williams v. Rhode Island Hospital Trust Co.

• Decision Date: 30 June 1958
• Docket Number: Nos. 2577-2579,s. 2577-2579
• Citation: 143 A.2d 324,88 R.I. 23
• Parties: Dorothy S. WILLIAMS et al. v. RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL TRUST COMPANY, Ex'r. W. Wellington VANDEVEER et al. v. RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL TRUST COMPANY, Ex'r. Adelaide A. SLUITER et al. v. W. Wellington VANDEVEER et al. Eq.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

Page 324

143 A.2d 324

88 R.I. 23

Dorothy S. WILLIAMS et al. v. RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL TRUST COMPANY, Ex'r.

W. Wellington VANDEVEER et al. v. RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL TRUST COMPANY, Ex'r.

Adelaide A. SLUITER et al. v. W. Wellington VANDEVEER et al.

Eq. Nos. 2577-2579.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

June 30, 1958.

Sherwood & Clifford, Providence, Sheffield & Harvey, Newport, for complainants Dorothy S. Williams and others.

Tillinghast, Collins & Tanner, Harold E. Staples, Benjamin A. Smith, Providence, Withington, Cross, Park & McCann, John F. Groden, Boston, Mass., for respondents Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company, Ex'r, and others.

McCanliss & Early, Joseph F. Monaghan, New York City, Hogan & Hogan, Laurence J. Hogan, Thomas S. Hogan, Providence, for respondent W. Wellington Vandeveer.

Higgins, Cavanagh & Williamson, James H. Higgins, Jr., Providence, for respondent Almuth C. Vandeveer.

Corcoran, Peckham & Hayes, Patrick O'N. Hayes, Newport, for respondents Minister, Church Wardens, and Vestry of Trinity Church in Newport, and others.

ANDREWS, Justice.

These three bills in equity were brought by the heirs-at-law of William H. Williams, husband of Emily M. Williams, late of the city of Newport, deceased. They are based upon or grow out of the breach of her alleged contract with him to make and keep unrevoked a will giving to his heirs-at-law certain amounts of property. By agreement the cases were tried together by a justice of the superior court who, after finding that no such contract had been proved, ordered the entry of a decree in each case denying and dismissing the bill of complaint. Such decrees were entered and from them the complainants have appealed to this court.

The complainants in the first case, Equity No. 2577, filed July 29, 1953, are the three nieces of the husband William H. Williams, hereinafter called Mr. Williams, and the respondents are the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company, executor of the will of Emily M. Williams, hereinafter referred to as Mrs. Williams, and the devisees and legatees named in her last will. As finally amended, this bill alleges that there belonged to Mr. Williams, in his lifetime, certain property and securities standing in his own name and in addition thereto certain property and securities standing in the name of his wife, which had been purchased with his funds; that they agreed that said property and securities were in equity the estate and property of Mr. Williams and would be under his absolute control as if standing in his own name; and that Mr. Williams and Mrs. Williams, prior to the execution of their last wills, in consideration of mutual promises:

'* * * did promise and agree each with the other that they would make, execute and leave unrevoked at death a valid last will and testament by which each would give, devise and bequeath to the other, all or substantially all of his or her property and estate * * * that upon the death of the said Emily Matilda Williams, if she were the survivor, it was mutually understood and agreed that she would execute and leave unrevoked at her death a last will and testament wherein she would give, devise and bequeath to the heirs-at-law and family of the said William H. Williams, as designated and directed by him, the property and estate, or substantially its equivalent in value, which the said Emily Matilda Williams had received from the said William H. Williams under his last will and testament; that in addition thereto, in consideration of the purchase of and the taking and holding of said securities and property in her name as above alleged, that Emily Matilda Williams would on her death leave a good and valid last will and testament wherein and whereby she would give and bequeath to the heirs-at-law and family of said William H. Williams, as designated and directed by him, the sum of One Million ($1,000,000) Dollars, or four twentieths (4/20ths) of the rest, residue and remainder of her property and estate.'

By her last will dated January 12, 1950, Mrs. Williams gave one of Mr. Williams' nephews, his namesake and godson, William Wellington Vandeveer, hereinafter called Wellington, 8/20ths of her residuary estate, a sum at least equal to the total of the claims of his nieces and nephews, but this was the only bequest to any of the nieces or nephews of her husband.

In the second case, Equity No. 2578, filed September 23, 1953, Wellington and his brother Almuth are the complainants and the respondents are the same as in the first case. While denying the existence of any contract such as alleged in the first case, they claim that if any such contract was in fact made they are entitled to their share under it, and the bill concludes with appropriate prayers. To allay the fears of the nieces that unless the Vandeveers appealed their case the nieces' appeals might be dismissed, the Vandeveers appealed but having won they are content.

In the third case, Equity No. 2579, filed February 11, 1955, the nieces are the complainants and Wellington and the trust company are the respondents. The distinctive allegations of this bill as amended are:

'3. That on or about June 19, 1941 in consideration that said William Henry Williams would by his last will and testament devise and bequeath to her the residue of his estate after the payment of his just debts, funeral expenses and the expenses of administration including taxes, said Emily Matilda Williams, promised said William Henry Williams that in case she survived said William Henry Williams, she would by her last will and testament devise and bequeath to his relatives, in the manner provided by his last will and testament for the disposition of his said residue in case she did not survive him, all property received by her under his said last will and testament plus 4/20ths of the residue of her estate remaining after the payment of her just debts, funeral expenses, the expense of administration including taxes and certain legacies.'

'6. That said Emily Matilda Williams died as aforesaid without performing her said promise, but on the contrary by her said last will and testament she devised and bequeathed to one of said nieces and nephews, to wit, said William Wellington Vandeveer, 8/20ths of said residue of her estate, thereby intending to devise and bequeath the 4/20ths of said residue mentioned in paragraph 3 hereof and the 4/20ths of said residue representing the property received by her under the last will and testament of said William Henry Williams, instead of devising and bequeathing said 8/20ths of said residue to all said nieces and nephews equally.'

The bill further alleges that Wellington holds his bequest as a constructive trustee for all the heirs-at-law. It thus appears that in the first two cases the complainants sue as third party beneficiaries of a contract and in the third case they sue as the beneficiaries of a constructive trust. As the finding of the trial justice of 'no contract' strikes at the foundation of all the cases, we need not go further into the rather complicated pleadings in these cases.

Owing to the sustaining of a demurrer to a bill of complaint filed earlier than any of these three cases, on the ground that the bill did not allege that the complainants had filed a statement of their claims in the probate court, the earlier case was abandoned and claims were filed in the probate court on January 17, 1953. The claims of the nieces are identical and the foundation thereof is stated in each claim as follows:

'Said claim is founded on an agreement made between William H. Williams, husband, and Emily Matilda Williams, his wife, whereby they each, for mutual considerations, agreed to execute and leave unrevoked at death a valid last will and testament by which each would give, devise and bequeath all of his or her property and estate to the survivor of them and said survivor, as part of said consideration, would execute and leave unrevoked at his or her death a valid last will and testament which would give, devise and bequeath the property and estate so left to him or her by the other to and among the family and heirs-at-law of such other, and in the case of said William H. Williams, to and among his nephews and nieces, equally, per capita, of which the claimant is one.'

It was stipulated between the parties that Mr. Williams' net estate was $882,281.64 so the proportionate share of the three nieces would be approximately $529,000. It will be noted that there is nothing in the claims as filed in the probate court covering the extra million dollars or the 4/20ths of Mrs. Williams' estate above referred to. In this connection the respondent trust company contends that the suit against Wellington as a constructive trustee was brought to avoid the limitations imposed upon the nieces' recovery by their claims as filed in the probate court.

So much for the pleading background. We now turn to the factual background much of which is not in dispute and some of which is covered by a stipulation signed by the parties. To avoid repetition we shall comment on some phases of the evidence as we come to them.

Mr. and Mrs. Williams were married in 1917 when both were in their early forties. He, at that time, was worth a million dollars which he had earned himself. She was worth between four and five million dollars, most if not all of which she had inherited. It was stipulated that at all times during their marriage her fortune was four or five times greater than his and that her net estate would probably be about four and a half million dollars. Mr. Williams was then engaged in business, and although Mrs. Williams had a law degree she did not practice but attended to her property. They kept their property separate although Mr. Williams gave his wife advice on investments. He took over a defaulted mortgage which she owned, the history of which may have been the foundation for the allegation in the first bill of complaint relative to...