MARY F. LANE, INDIVIDUALLY, AND AS EXECUTRIX OF THE ESTATE OF JOHN P. LANE, DECEASED, APPELLANT,
v.
PALMER FIRST NATIONAL BANK AND TRUST COMPANY OF SARASOTA, AS TRUSTEE, ETC., ET AL., APPELLEES
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A widow challenged the validity of her deceased husband's revocable inter vivos trust, arguing that the settlor's retention of exclusive control over the trustee made the trust illusory rather than a genuine trust arrangement. The court affirmed the trust's validity, holding that Florida law permits a settlor to retain powers of revocation, income, and trustee control without invalidating the trust, provided the settlor does not exercise day-to-day control making the arrangement a mere agency.
A valid inter vivos trust may be created in Florida even though it contains a power to control the trustee in addition to being revocable and retaining the life income to the settlor, in accordance with Restatement (Second) Trusts § 57 (1959). The Lane trust is valid on its face, as it does not contain a power of appointment and there is no evidence of actual day-to-day control by the settlor that would transform it into a mere agency agreement.
“It is well settled that the retention by the settlor of a power to revoke, modify and invade the corpus, in addition to the reservation of income for life, does not invalidate a trust.”
Establishes the foundational principle that multiple retained powers do not per se invalidate a trust.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceJohn P. Lane created a revocable inter vivos trust transferring property to Palmer First National Bank as trustee. The trust provided income to Lane d…
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This is an appeal from a final decree holding an inter vivos trust valid and not illusory. We agree and affirm.
The plaintiff widow, Mary F. Lane, individually, and as executrix of the Estate of John P. Lane, filed a complaint seeking to have a revocable inter vivos trust created by her deceased husband declared of no force and effect on the grounds that her husband, as settlor, retained exclusive dominion and control over the trust property during his lifetime and the trust was therefore illusory.
The provisions of the revocable trust created by John P. Lane, the deceased husband of the plaintiff, transferred certain property to the Palmer First National Bank and Trust Company of Sarasota as trustee. The trust provided for the income to be paid to the settlor Lane, and upon his death to his wife, and after their deaths the income would be paid to their two daughters until the youngest reached the age of twenty-eight, at which time the trust would terminate and the corpus distributed to the children or their respective heirs. The settlor further retained the power to invade the corpus of the trust.
In addition to the revocability and retention of income the settlor Lane reserved the power to direct the trustee in writing to sell, retain, exchange or lease property, and the trustee, under the terms of the trust, was not allowed and had no duty to sell, lease or exchange property without such written directions. The trustee was, however, required to supervise, make periodic examinations, and make recommendations concerning the trust property. The settlor could, by the terms of the trust, surrender any powers to the trustee, and upon the death of the settlor the trustee had full power and discretion to administer the trust.
The plaintiff conceded that the settlor Lane intended to create an inter vivos trust with him and his wife having the life income therefrom and his daughters as beneficiaries thereof. This trust, together with a similar trust entered into by his wife, was part of an estate plan for the Lane family. It is not contended that the trust was a subterfuge to deprive the wife of her dower rights nor that it was intended to avoid or subvert homestead rights. Further, no power of appointment is contained in this trust.
There is no evidence of how the trust actually operated during the life of the settlor Lane, and the sole issue for this court, as it was for the lower court, is to determine the validity of the inter vivos trust instrument on its face.
The provisions of this trust instrument retain for the settlor the following powers:
1. Life income,
2. Power to amend or revoke, and to invade the corpus of the trust,
3. Power of settlor to designate, sale, exchange or lease of all trust property, the trustee being required to act only upon such directions.
It is well settled that the retention by the settlor of a power to revoke, modify and invade the corpus, in addition to the reservation of income for life, does not invalidate a trust. Williams v. Collier, 120 Fla. 248, 158 So. 815, 162 So. 868; 1 Scott, Trusts 474 § 57.1 (3d ed. 1967); Bogert, Trusts and Trustees, 531 § 104 (2d ed. 1965); Restatement (Second) Trusts § 57 (1959); Roth, The Revocable Inter Vivos Trust, 16 U.Fla.L.Rev. 34, 43. This court must determine in this case whether the power retained by the settlor Lane over the trustee is one power retained too many, and coupled with the other retained powers is of such cumulative effect that the instrument was not a trust but an agency agreement.
The appellant, in contending the trust is invalid and illusory, relies upon the opin*303ion of the Supreme Court of Florida in Hanson v. Denckla (Fla.1956) 100 So.2d 378, rev’d on other grounds 357 U.S. 235, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283 (1958), conformed 106 So.2d 549 (Fla.1958), and particularly that portion which holds the settlor exercised too much control over the trustee, and quotes approvingly Scott, Trusts, and the Statute of Wills, 43 Harv.L.Rev. 521, 529, and the Restatement of Trusts (1935) §§ 56, 57.
The trust in Hanson v. Denckla, supra, is not entirely the same as the trust now before the court. In Hanson the settlor retained the power of appointment which was exercised frequently. The Lane trust did not contain a power of appointment. Both trusts allowed the settlor to retain the power of control over the trustee. In Hanson it allowed the settlor to change the trustee and designate an advisor who had the power of investment management over the trust property. In the Lane trust the power of control over the trustee was personal in the settlor rather than residing in part in an advisor.
Hanson v. Denckla, supra, was prolific in its production of text commentaries and law review notes and articles. 1 Scott, Trusts 491 § 57.2 (3d ed. 1967); 72 Harv.L.Rev. 695; 11 Stan.L.Rev. 344; 11 U.Fla.L.Rev. 266; 16 U.Fla.L.Rev. 46. Section 57 of the original Restatement of Trusts (1935) cited by the court in Hanson v. Denckla has been rewritten in the Restatement of Trusts (2d 1959) and now clearly states an inter vivos trust may be valid even though it allows the settlor to retain not only the life income and the power to revoke or modify, but also the power to control the trustee.1
Professor Scott and the other mentioned text authorities state that Hanson v. Denckla, supra, is a minority view. Because of this decision the revocable inter vivos trust in Florida must be approached with caution. This, in turn, has brought forth concern since trusts created in jurisdictions where.they are valid may, after the settlor has retired to Florida and died, be held invalid.
It is the opinion of this court that a valid inter vivos trust instrument may be created in Florida even though it contains a power to control the trustee, in addition to being revocable and retaining the life income to the settlor in accordance with the provisions of § 57 Restatement (Second) Trusts (1959). The Lane trust now before the court is, therefore, on its face a valid inter vivos trust instrument.
It is distinguished from Hanson v. Denckla by the fact that the Lane trust does not contain a power of appointment. Further, there is no actual evidence of day-to-day control by the settlor. The power to control the trustee more than any of the other powers subjects it to severe scrutiny. If the settlor exercises day-to-day control over the trust property by the use of this power, then he has divested himself of nothing, and the trust is nothing but an agency agreement. Evidence of the actual operation of a trust during the life of a settlor and the actual control exerted by him may properly influence a court in determining *304the validity of the instrument. This is not an issue in this case, although it was in part in Hanson v. Denckla, supra.
This court has carefully considered the authorities cited by the appellants, including Watson v. St. Petersburg Bank & Trust Co., 146 So.2d 383 (Fla.). They are not persuasive to the issues before the court in this case and judgment is accordingly affirmed.
ALLEN, Acting C. J., and PIERCE, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Zuckerman v. Alter, 615 So. 2d 661 (Fla. 1993)…witness, was invalid. Id. at 385. The Court based its holding to a large extent on the Restatement of Trusts § 56 (1935). Hanson, 100 So. 2d at 384. Thereafter, the Second District Court of Appeal in Lane v. Palmer First National Bank & Trust Co., 213 So. 2d 301 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968), distinguished the facts of the case before it from those in Hanson and upheld the validity of the testamentary aspects of a revocable inter vivos trust. The court pointed out that the Restatement of Trusts, relied upon by the Cou…1 / 2
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Alter v. Zuckerman, 585 So. 2d 303 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)…s clear we need not reach Alter’s alternative argument that he is also entitled to relief under Florida decisions which have in terms, or in effect, distinguished Hanson v. Denckla. See, e.g., Lane v. Painter First Natl Bank & Trust Co. of Sarasota, 213 So. 2d 301, 302-04 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968). . This ruling is without prejudice to such further proceedings as may be appropriate with respect to the sufficiency of the pleadings, and any amendment which may be needed, with respect to the First Nationwide account,…
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In re Est. of Andrew W. Herron, Jr., 237 So. 2d 563 (Fla. 4th DCA 1970)…ision was that the trust instrument sufficiently expressed a bona fide intention of the settlor to create a trust and that such intention did not violate applicable rules of law. In Lane v. Palmer First National B & T Co. of Sarasota, Fla.App.1968, 213 So. 2d 301, a suit was filed by the widow in her capacity as an executrix of the deceased’s estate as well as in her individual capacity. The purpose of the suit was to have de- [*567] dared illusory an inter vivos trust created by the decedent in which the de…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235 (U.S. 1958)
- Hanson v. Denckla, 100 So. 2d 378 (Fla. 1956)
- . Sawyer v. Letitia Collier, 120 Fla. 248 (Fla. 1935)
- Watson v. ST. Petersburg Bank & Tr. Co., 146 So. 2d 383 (Fla. 2d DCA 1962)
- Hanson v. Denckla, 106 So. 2d 549 (Fla. 1958)