Lowell v. Talcott, et al. v. Hunnewell, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-096-14)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 13-P-1053 Appeals Court WILLIAM A. LOWELL, trustee,[1] vs. MARIA OAKES TALCOTT & others;[2] ARNOLD W. HUNNEWELL, JR., & another,[3] third-party defendants. No. 13-P-1053. Norfolk. April 10, 2014. – August 18, 2014. Present: Graham, Wolohojian, & Milkey, JJ. Trust, Beneficiary. Devise and Legacy, Issue. Legitimacy. Paternity. Probate Court, Interpretation of trust instrument, Attorney’s fees. Practice, Civil, Attorney’s fees. Words, “Issue.” Civil action commenced in the Norfolk Division of the Probate and Family Court Department on September 28, 2010. The case was heard by George F. Phelan, J., on motions for summary judgment; a motion for attorney’s fees and costs was heard by him; and the entry of final judgment was ordered by him. James R. Knudsen for Maria Oakes Talcott. Maureen E. Curran for Katharine Van Buskirk & others. Steven E. Gurdin (A. Hether Cahill with him) for William A. Lowell & others. GRAHAM, J. In this case, we are asked to consider whether a child born in 1963 while her mother was married to a man who is not the child’s father, is an “issue” of the mother as that term is used in the wills of the mother’s grandparents, drafted in 1951. We conclude that on the particular facts presented, she is. Background. In 1951, Francis J. Oakes, Jr., and his wife, Mary P. Oakes (collectively, testators), executed reciprocal wills leaving the bulk of their property in trust for the benefit of one another and their issue. Francis[4] died on August 14, 1954, and Mary died on July 7, 1956. Upon their deaths, pursuant to each will, separate trusts were created for each of their three daughters and their respective “issue.” Thus, two trusts were created for each daughter. Only the trusts for their daughter, Elisabeth Oakes Colford, and her issue, are before us. The wills provided for discretionary distributions of “net income and/or principal” to the testators’ children or to the “issue of such child.” The term “issue” is not defined in the wills. The trusts are to terminate twenty-one years after the death of the last survivor of those of the testators’ issue who were living at the time of the testators’ deaths, in equal shares per stirpes. In 1955, Elisabeth’s daughter, Juliana Colford Van Buskirk, married David Van Buskirk. Their daughters, Katharine and Elisabeth,[5] were born in 1956 […]