Easter

Certain beneficiaries of a trust estate created by means of a final decree of distribution pursuant to the terms of a will have appealed from a judgment rendered in an equitable action directing the sale of real property contrary to the express prohibition of the trust. The question which is involved in this appeal is whether a court of equity may direct a sale of real property and authorize a reinvestment of the proceeds therefrom contrary to the express terms of a trust, in the absence of consent thereto by the beneficiaries, and without satisfactory proof of the failure of the trust and reasonable assurance of a profitable sale and reinvestment of the proceeds thereof.

Alfred Easter died testate. He was possessed of real property situated in Los Angeles, including a group of houses known as Catalina Court, of the approximate value of $85,000. The deceased left surviving him his widow, Catherine Easter, now Catherine Rupell, and the appellants who are his children by a former wife and his grandchildren. His will was admitted to probate and a final decree of distribution of his estate was entered October 3, 1923, from which no appeal was taken. This decree, pursuant to the terms…