Security Pacific National Bank v. Roman Catholic Archbishop

Nina Cleaver executed a holographic will in 1954. She was 66 at the time. She died in 1978, at the age of 90 and the will was admitted to probate.

*344 The will purported to divide her estate among four beneficiaries in equal amounts. We are here concerned with that provision of the will which left one-quarter of the estate to “‘The Archbishop of Los Angeles and San Diego, a corporation, sole, to be used for charitable purposes giving particular attention to deserving elderly persons.” (Italics added.)

The executor of the estate petitioned the superior court for assistance in determining the identity of the beneficiary under the above referenced provision. The official titles of the contending entities are “The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles” on the one hand and on. the other “The Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Los Angeles,” both of whom are corporations sole and neither of which are legally or officially known by the designation employed by the testator.

After hearing extrinsic evidence presented by both sides, the trial court granted the claim of the Episcopal Bishop. The Roman Catholic Archbishop has appealed. We affirm.

Both parties…