Reed v. Bank of America

Clarence Allison Reed, a resident of Los Angeles, died on June 7, 1937. His wife predeceased him, but he was survived by his two children Paul R. Reed and Bessie May Sheehan.

Clarence’s will, dated June 14, 1935, was duly admitted to probate. It provided for the creation of a trust with Paul as trustee and executor of the estate. The trust provisions of the will provided that Bessie was to receive “one-half of the net income available for distribution, but not to exceed Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) per month.” The balance of the net income was to go to Paul. Clarence’s will further provided that the trust was to terminate upon the death of Bessie and the corpus was to be distributed to Paul.

In order to clarify certain provisions of their father’s will, Bessie and Paul entered into a written agreement on December 24, 1937, which was incorporated in the decree of distribution of Clarence’s estate by the terms of which Paul, as trustee of Clarence’s trust estate, was to pay Bessie the sum of $200 per month for the balance of her life “and on Bessie’s death, the balance remaining . . . , if any, shall go to the heirs at law of Paul, or to such other person or persons as he may…