Weir's Estate

Citations

• 251 Pa. 499
• 96 A. 1086
• 1916 Pa. LEXIS 493

Syllabus

<p>Personal property — Life estates — Trustees for life tenants— Remaindermen — Investments — Trustees’ accounts — Charges — Credits.</p> <p>1. Where- a life tenant of personal property has refused to give security for the protection of the remainder interests, and a trustee has been appointed by the court, such trustee is not, strictly speaking, tbe trustee for tbe remainder interests, but stands toward them in exactly the relation in which the life tenant would have stood had he given bond and received his life estate in possession. The trustee is answerable to the remaindermen upon the termination of the life estate, just as the life tenant’s estate would have been at the termination of the trust.</p> <p>2. In such case, the trustee is not entitled to credit for losses on investments, even though properly made, and may only claim credit for such expenses as were necessarily incident to the filing of the account; he is not entitled to credit for expenses incident to the enjoyment of the life estate.</p> <p>3. If in such case, the trustee makes investments, he must be prepared on the termination of his trust, or within a reasonable time thereafter, to pay over to the remaindermen the whole fund he received in cash; he cannot require the remaindermen to accept in lieu of cash, property in which the trust funds have been invested.</p> <p>4. A testator bequeathed personal property to his wife, with remainder over to his children; the wife declined to give security for the protection of the remainder interests, and the court awarded the fund to a trustee for the life of the widow. The trustee loaned part of the fund on a bond and mortgage, and subsequently bought in the property at a sheriff’s sale. Upon the death of the widow, the trustee filed an account charging himself with the entire trust fund, and claiming credit for commissions and for the amount lost on the mortgage investment. He included the property purchased at the sheriff’s sale as a cash asset of the est