Safe Deposit & Trust Co. v. Gunther

Briscoe, J., delivered the opinion of the Court-. The questions for our consideration in this case are presented by a bill in equity, for a proper construction of the last will and testament of George Gunther, late of Baltimore City, deceased. ⁶⁴⁶ Mr. Gunther died on the 5th of September, 1912, leaving a last will and testament dated the 23rd day of May, 1911, which will was admitted to probate by the Orphans’ Court of Baltimore City, on the 11th day of September, 1912. Letters testamentary upon his estate were granted to Catherine Gunther, his widow, and to George Gunther,. Jr., and Henry Prank Gunther, two of his sons, the persons, named as executrix and executors in the will.

The testator left a large estate, approximating in value about three millions, of dollars. He left surviving him his wife, Catherine Gunther, one. of the defendants in the case; two daughters, Mary Magdalena Cooney and Catherine Stringer, also defendants in the case; and two sons, George Gunther, Jr., and Frank H. Gunther, the plaintiffs., who1 filed the bill in the court below. The material provisions of the will, and those that are necessary to be considered by us for the purposes of this case, are as follows: First, the testator gave and devised to his wife, Catherine Gunther, absolutely, the house and premise's in which lie resided at the time of his death, together with all the contents thereof; also his automobiles, horses and carriages, and also the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars in cash. S'econd, by the sixth item of the. will, he ratified and confirmed a gift of seventy-five shares of the capital stock of the George Gunther, Jr., Brewing Company of Baltimore County, previously made by him to his son, George, and also a. gift of ten shares of the same stock previously made by him to his son, Plenry Frank.

Third, by the seventh item, he gave and bequeathed unto each of his daughters, Mary Magdalena and Catherine, the sum of fifteen thousand dollars. Fourth, by the eighth item of the will, in addition to the gifts of stock made by the testator to bis sons, George and Henry, and mentioned in item No>. 6 of his will, ho gave and bequeathed -unto his son, George, sixtv-nine shares of the ⁶⁴⁷ capital stock of the George (huither, Jr., Brewing Company, and mito his son, Henry Frank, one hundred and thirty-five shares of said stock. The ninth and tenth items of the will dispose of the rest and residue' of his ('state, and as the questions involved on this appeal are presented on these two clauses, of the will, they will bp hen' transcribed. “Item No. Í). All the rest, residue and remainder of my ('state, real and personal, whatsoever, and wheresoever situate, I give, devise and bequeath unto the Safe Deposit and Trust Company of Baltimore, a body corporate of the State1 of Maryland, its successors and assigns, in trust as trustees, in trust and confidence' to hold the same, and to collect and receive the rents, dividends, income and interest issuing’ thereout, and, after paying taxes and other necessary and proper charges and expenses incident thereto, to pay from said net rents, dividends, income and interests, unto my wife, Oatherine Gunther, the sum of twelve thou-said dollars per annum, in equal monthly installments, in advance, for and during the term of her natural life, and to pay unto my daughter, Mary Magdalena, the sum of two thousand six hundred dollars, per annum, in equal monthly installments, in advance (into her hands, and not into the hands of another, whether claimed by her authority or otherwise) until the death of my said wife, or until the death of my said daughter, Alary Afagdalena, whichever event may first occur; and to pay unto my daughter, Oatherine, the sum of two thousand six hundred dollars per annum, in equal monthly installments, in advance (into her hands, and not into the hands of another, whether claimed by her authority or otherwise) until the death of my said wife, or until the death of my said daughter, Oatherine, whichever event may first occur. “As to the remaining part or portion of the said rents, dividends, income and interest, 1 direct my said trustee to collect, accumulate and invest the same, to ⁶⁴⁸ be held by the said trustee as a part of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate. “And from and immediately after the death of my said wife, Catherine Gunther, I direct my said trustee, its successors and assigns, to apportion and divide said rest, residue and remainder of my estate (including all accumulations) into four equal parts, and to convey, assign, transfer and deliver absolutely unto my son, George, one full equal fourth part thereof, free, clear and discharged of the trust herein imposed: and to convey, assign, transfer and deliver, absolutely, unto my son, Henry Frank, one full equal fourth part thereof, free, clear and discharged of the trust herein imposed. 'One full equal fourth part thereof T give, devise and bequeath unto the Safe Deposit and Trust, Company of Baltimore, a body corporate of the State of Maryland, its successors and assigns, in further trust to hold the same and to collect and receive the rents, dividends, income and interest issuing thereout: and, after paying taxes and other necessary and proper charges and expenses incident thereto, to pay the net rents, dividends, income and interest monthly unto my daughter, Mary Magdalena, (into her hands, and not into the hands of another, whether claimed by her authority or otherwise), for and during the term of her natural life.

And from and immediately after the death of said Mary Magdalena said trust shall cease, and said trustee, its successors and assigns, shall convey, assign, transfer and deliver, absolutely, said equal fourth part, so held in trust, unto the child, children and descendants of my said daughter, Mary Magdalena, then living, per stirpes and not per capita. free, clear and discharged of the trust herein imposed. “Should my said daughter, Mary Magdalena, depart this life without leaving any child, children or descendants surviving her, then said equal one-fourth part shall go to and become absolutely the property of the rightful heirs of my body, free, clear and discharged of said trust.” ⁶⁴⁹ Similar provisions in trust are made by the testator, in the ninth clause of his will, .as¡ to the remaining oner-fourth part of the estate for the benefit of the testator’s daughter, Catherine, during her lifetime and after her death, to her descendants and in lieu of descendants, then to the rightful heirs of the testator’si body. Item 10 of the will simply directs the method of the division of the estate, with regard to the valuation of the shares of the capital stock of the brewery company. The remaining clauses of the will, items 11 to 16 inclusive, relate to the trust created for the rest and residue of the estate, and it will he seen, they do not seriously reflect upon the questions at issue and are not relevant to1 the controversy. Mrs. Gunther, the widow, on or about the 16th day of December, 1912, renounced all claim to the bequests and devises, made to her by the last will and testament of her husband, and elected to take in lieu thereof her dower or legal share of the estate of her husband.

On June 28th, 1913, the executors filed their first administration account, showing a distribution of one-third of the residue of the estate to the widow, and the balance to the Safe Deposit and Trust Company, of Baltimore, as trustee, as will appear by reference to a copy of. the account filed among the proceedings in the ease. Thereupon these proceedings, were instituted by the two sons, the plaintiffs in the case, against the two sisters, the Safe Deposit and Trust Company of Baltimore and the other defendants, to compel the trustee under the will, by reason and in consequence of the renunciation of the widow, Catherine Gunther, of the provisions of the will made in her favor, their vested remainders of the residue of the estate having been accelerated, to divide the rest, residue and remainder of the estate, as provided for in clauses nine and ten of the will, into four equal parts, and to transfer and deliver to each one of the plaintiffs absolutely one of these parts. ⁶⁵⁰ There is no dispute as to the facts, and they are set out and contained in the bill of complaint, the answers of the defendants, the exhibits, and the testimony duly taken at the hearing. The case was submitted for decree to the Circuit Court No. 2, of Baltimore City, and after hearing, upon bill, answers and testimony, the court held, in part: (1) That by the true construction of the will of George Gunther, late of Baltimore City, deceased, and the effect of a renunciation of the provisions of said will by Catherine Gunther, his widow, under date of December 16, 1912, there legally resulted an acceleration of the remainders provided for in the will of the said George Gunther in favor of the four children of said George Gunther, to wit, George Gunther, Jr., Frank IT. Gunther, Mary Magdalena Cboney and Katharine Stringer, and that said acceleration legally took place and became effective as of the date of said renunciation of the widow, to wit, December 16, 1912.

(2) That in consequence of said acceleration having taken place as of December 16, 1912, the four children of the said testator above mentioned are now entitled to have the whole residue of the corpus of the estate of the said Georg© Gunther divided as of December 16, 1912, said division to be made in accordance with the provisions of item 9 of said will and in accordance with the provisions of the will. And it was further ordered and decreed that the Safe Deposit and Trust Company, trustee, mentioned in said will, shall now make the division of the said rest and residue of the corpus of the estate of the said testator as of December 16, 1912, into four shares as provided for in said will, and that after said division has been made the1 said George Gunther, Jr., and Frank H. Gunther will be entitled to receive absolutely and free, of trust their respective shares of the. corpus of said estate fixed and determined as of December 16th, 1912, as aforesaid, and that the shares of said corpus so determined in which the said Mary Magdalena, Cooney ⁶⁵¹ and Katherine 'Stringer arc respectively entitled to life eslates are to be continued to lie held by the Safe Deposit and Trust Company of Baltimore as trustee under said will, and the income thereon shall hereafter be paid to the said Mary Magdalena, Cooney and Katherine Stringer during their respective lives, with a remainder over as provided for in said will. (8) And it is further ordered and decreed that an accounting shall he made by the said trustee with respect to the income which has accumulated since December 16th, 1912, on the whole corpus of the rest and residue of the estate of the said testator and apportionment of the whole thereof shall be made equitably and fairly between the four shares of the principal as above ascertained and determined, each of said four shares fcq. bo entitled to receive that portion of the whole accumulated income which is represented by the proportion of the respective shares to, the whole corpus as of December 12, 1912, and that the said proportion of the whole accumulated income to which the shares of George Gunther, J r., and Frank If. Gunther are respectively entitled shall be paid to them absolutely, and that portion of the income which is so apportioned to the shares of Mary Magdalena, Cooney and Katherine Stringer shall be awarded to them absolutely with deduction, however, for the sum of twenty-six hundred dollars ($2,600) per year heretofore paid, by said trustee to the said Mary Magdalena Cooney and Katherine Stringer, respectively, which sums of money are to. be brought into account in the ascertainment of the respective share.

From this decree, the trustee, and the infant defendants, have taken this appeal. The adult defendants who are: beneficiaries under