Friedley v. Security Trust & Safe Deposit Co.

Citations

• 10 Del. Ch. 74
• 84 A. 883
• 1912 Del. Ch. LEXIS 38

Syllabus

<p>The power given a trustee by a will, in which testator gave real estate to a trustee in truát for the use of the trustee’s children, with authority to retain the property for their benefit, or at his option to convey the same to them and their heirs, or sell the same and hold the proceeds in trust for the children, or at his discretion to pay the same over to them discharged of any trust, at such time and manner as will be most beneficial to them, is, as to the selection of the time and manner of payment of the estate reduced to personalty, a personal confidence in the trustee, not given him ex officio, and cannot be exercised by a substituted trustee, and at the death of the trustee, after reducing the estate to personalty the trust terminates, and the beneficiaries are entitled to the property without the intervention of a substituted trustee.</p> <p>In general, on the death of a trustee, the trusteeship devolves on the executors or administrators of the deceased trustee.</p> <p>A will whereby testator devised his real estate to a trustee, and his heirs and assigns, for the benefit of the children of the trustee, with authority to manage it for their benefit, or at his option to convey the same to them, or to sell the same and hold the proceeds in trust, or pay the same over to the children at such times and manner as he shall deem most beneficial to them, imposes on the executors of the deceased trustee the duty of paying over the estate reduced to personalty to the beneficiaries for the word “heirs” includes executors.</p> <p>Where a testamentary trust estate consists of personalty, and the trust is terminated, so that the only duty remaining is to pay over the property to the beneficiaries, a new trustee may not be appointed on the death of the trustee; but the interest of the beneficiaries is a present right to the possession of the trust property, and the duty of transferring the trustee’s property rests on the executor of the deceased trustee.</p> <p>Wher