JOHN A. JACKSON, ET AL.,
v.
EXCHANGE NATIONAL BANK OF TAMPA
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Kate V. Jackson executed a codicil creating a trust for her servant Christine Rahming for life, with remainder to the Bishop of St. Augustine for the benefit of a church. When the servant predeceased the testatrix, the question was whether the bequest lapsed or passed to the remainder beneficiary. The Florida Supreme Court held that the bequest did not lapse but passed to the remainder beneficiary as intended.
The bequest did not lapse upon the death of the life tenant but passed to the remainder beneficiary (the Bishop of St. Augustine) as provided in the codicil. The death of the life tenant merely accelerates vesting of the remainder interest, and nothing in the codicil indicated a contrary intent.
“where a testator makes a bequest to one for life with remainder over to a third party and the life tenant predeceases the testator, the bequest becomes a naked trust payable direct to the third party. In other words, the death of the life tenant merely accelerates the time when the bequest over is vested.”
States the controlling legal rule for life estate bequests with remainders.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceKate V. Jackson executed a codicil bequeathing $5,000 in trust to Exchange National Bank of Tampa to pay income to her servant Christine Rahming durin…
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Kate V. Jackson of Hillsborough County, executed a codicil to her will in which she bequeathed $5000 in trust to the Exchange National Bank of Tampa with power to invest and reinvest and. to pay the income therefrom to Christine Rahming, her faithful servant, and if said income be not sufficient to provide for her properly, then the trustee shall use the corpus of the fund for that purpose. The codicil concluded as follows:
. . in case there shall be any balance of said trust fund at the time of her death, then in that event my said Trustee shall pay over the same to the Right Reverend Patrick Barry, Bishop of St. Augustine of The Roman Catholic *529Church, and his successors in office, for the use and benefit of St. Peter Claver Church of Tampa, Florida.”
Christine Rahming predeceased. the testatrix. Appellees being eligible to inherit from the testatrix contended that the bequest lapsed when the beneficiary died so the trustee brought this suit to have the codicil construed. The chancellor held that the bequest did not lapse but that it passed to the Bishop of St. Augustine and his successors in the manner provided by the codicil. The defendants appealed.
The rule is that where a testator makes a bequest to one for life with remainder over to a third party and the life tenant predeceases the testator, the bequest becomes a naked trust payable direct to the third party. In other words, the death of the life tenant merely accelerates the time when the bequest over is vested. The only exception to this rule is that the will show a definite intent to the contrary. Thompson v. Thornton, 197 Mass. 273, 83 N.E. 880; Frelinghuysen v. New York Life Ins. Co. 31 R.I. 150, 77 Atl. 98; In re Fordham’s Will, 235 N.Y. 384, 139 N.E. 548; In re Hurd’s Estate, 305 Penn. 394, 158 Atl. 174; In re Gregory’s Estate, 12 Cal. App. 309, 107 Pac. 566.
There is nothing in the codicil to show an intent contrary to this though it is shown that the testatrix lived more than two months after the death of the beneficiary. We are convinced that it accords with the express intent of the testatrix, so the judgment appealed from is affirmed. ■
Affirmed.
BUFORD, C. J„ CHAPMAN and ADAMS; JJ., concur.
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Matthew Weinstein Ad Litem of the unborn children of David L. Mackey v. MacKey, 408 So. 2d 849 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982)…ator, and never in contravention thereof. Ohio National Bank of Columbus v. Adair, 54 Ohio St.2d 26, 374 N.E. 2d 415, 417 (1978). While these general principles have become well-established, Jackson v. Exchange National Bank of Tampa, 152 Fla. 528, 12 So. 2d 450 (1943); Murphy v. Murphy, 125 Fla. 855, 170 So. 856 (1936), the question of their applicability to a transfer 2 of the kind involved here is one of initial impression in this state.3 The gift of the principal of the trust to the children of Dr. Mac…
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In re Sheaf's Estate, 63 So. 2d 255 (Fla. 1953)…the life tenant, prior to the death of the testatrix, did not defeat the rights of the remaindermen, causing their legacies to lapse. The Circuit Court affirmed. In our view, the question is concluded by Jackson v. Exchange National Bank of Tampa, 152 Fla. 528, 12 So. 2d 450; American Jurisprudence, Volume 57, Wills, Section 1432; Redfearn on Wills and Administration of Estates in Florida, page 192. These authorities hold that the death of the life tenant merely accelerates the time when the bequest over…