Wills Trusts & Estates keyed to Dukeminier
Estate of Collins
Facts
The defendants, Lamb and Millikan were, respectively, Collin’s business partner and lawyer. The two men were named in Collin’s will as trustees. The beneficiaries in Collins’ testamentary trust were his wife, children, his mother and father. The will included general support provisions. It also specifically provided that the trustees pay the testator’s daughter $4,000 a year for her undergraduate and graduate education. The trust also stated that the trustees were not limited by “what the law provides are proper investments.” The defendants invested two-thirds of the trust principal in a single investment. They invested in real property that was secured only by a second deed of trust. The land had sold for $107,000 and was subject to a first deed of $90,000. The land was never appraised and the defendants only had the word of a real estate broker that the property in the area was going for $18,000 to $20,000 a parcel. The builder pledged 20 percent of their stock but the defendants never obtained possession of the stock nor did they place it in escrow or have it legended. The defendants accepted the personal guarantees of the builders and their wives without investigation the financial status of these persons.
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