Estate of Newman

Charles J. Newman died testate, leaving surviving as his only heirs at law -a widow, a brother, five sisters, and a niece. The niece was not mentioned in the will. A stepdaughter was named among the legatees. The Bank of Italy was named as trustee, vested with the usual powers.

An appeal from the decree of distribution in the estate of said decedent brings the will before us for construction. The main question is concerned with the interpretation of a trust created by the will. The provisions in dispute are as follows:

Respondent agrees with the contention of appellants that the will provides a trust for the disposition of the income of the estate during the lifetime of the beneficiaries named therein, and that upon their death the testator would not particularly care who received his estate, so he directed that the trust should then terminate and the remainder of his property should go to the persons who were his heirs according to the laws of succession of the state of California. None of the parties here concerned desire to strike down the trust.

A reading of the quoted paragraph shows that the trust provides for the distribution of income during the lives of certain…