Hunt v. Gontrum

Citations

• 80 Md. 64
• 30 A. 620
• 1894 Md. LEXIS 110

Syllabus

<p>Liability of Trustees — Collecting Notes — Investment of Trust Funds— Acquiescence of cestui que trust.</p> <p>A trustee to whom a sum of money is bequeathed has no right to accept from the executor of the testator a promissory note of a third person, in part payment of the legacy; and if he does accept it, he ought to proceed at once to collect the same.</p> <p>If at the time of accepting such note it could be collected, and the trustee neglects to do so for some years until the maker becomes insolvent, his estate is liable to make good the loss to the trust fund.</p> <p>In the absence of express authority in the instrument creating the trust, a trustee has no right to invest the funds in personal securities, and if he does, he makes the investment' at his own peril; and even where the investment is left to his discretion, it is not the exercise of a sound discretion to invest in such securities.</p> <p>If a trustee makes an improper investment of the trust fund at the request of the cestui que trust, or if the cestui que trust consents to the investment, the trustee will not be held liable to make good a loss arising from the same. But to relieve the trustee from liability in such cases, the cestui que trust must be sui juris, and capable of acting for himself, and the acquiescence must be with full knowledge of the facts, and with knowledge as to his legal rights.</p>