National Academy of Sciences v. Cambridge Trust Co.

Facts

Leonard T. Troland died in 1932, leaving his estate in trust with Cambridge Trust Company as trustee, with income to be paid to his widow Florence R. Troland during her lifetime so long as she remained unmarried. The will specifically stated the testator’s intention that no part of the estate should benefit members of his wife’s family and instructed the trustee to protect these terms. Upon Florence’s death or remarriage, the trust was to transfer to the National Academy of Sciences for research in psychophysics. Florence remarried Edward D. Flynn on February 13, 1945, in West Palm Beach, Florida, but failed to notify the bank. She arranged for income checks to be sent to her brother-in-law Kenneth D. Custance in Boston, who forwarded them to her in New Jersey where she lived with her new husband. She endorsed the checks as “Florence R. Troland” and returned them to Custance for deposit. The bank continued making payments totaling $106,013.41 from 1945 until Florence’s death in 1967, never attempting to verify her marital status. The bank presented twenty-two accounts to the Probate Court during this period, representing in each that payments were made to “Florence R. Troland” as beneficiary, and all accounts were allowed without challenge since the academy was unaware of the remarriage.