Weible

Facts

Respondent (Gayla) is the daughter of decedent Harry Truman Browne. Mr. Browne died on September 12, 1966, leaving a will in which Elsie O. Behrends (Behrends) was named as executrix. That will, after making provisions to implement a property settlement agreement with decedent’s divorced wife, left the balance of his estate in trust, naming Behrends as trustee. Under the terms of that trust (so far as herein pertinent) Gayla was to receive an income of $4,800 a year, and was to receive one-third of the corpus on her twenty-fifth, thirtieth and thirty-fifth birthdays. Mr. Browne also left several policies of life insurance in which Behrends was named as trustee for the benefit of Gayla. Gayla contended that the life insurance trusts were “dry” trusts and that she was entitled to receive all of their proceeds immediately. Since Behrends did not agree with that contention, Gayla filed an action in declaratory relief to determine her interest in the policies.

In March of 1967, Gayla consulted Jaffe, an attorney-at-law, and ultimately retained the law firm of which he then was a partner to represent her in matters concerning her interest in her father’s estate and in…