Broadway National Bank v. Adams

133 Mass. 170 (1882)

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Broadway National Bank v. Adams

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
133 Mass. 170 (1882)

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Facts

Charles Adams (defendant) was the beneficiary of a trust created by his brother’s will. The will directed that $75,000 be deposited into a trust, with the funds to be invested and the income paid to Adams semiannually for life, then to his wife for life if she survived him. After both Adams and his wife died, the trust principle was to be divided equally among Adams’s children. The will expressly stated that the payments to Adams were to be free from interference or control by Adams’s creditors because the brother intended that Adams not be able to anticipatorily assign his interest in receipt of the income. When Adams became indebted to Broadway National Bank (Broadway) (plaintiff), Broadway filed suit against him, seeking an order requiring repayment of the debt from funds Adams was to receive under the trust. Adams argued that the trust provision prohibiting anticipatory assignment prevented the debt from attaching to trust funds before the funds were paid to him. Broadway countered that the restriction was inoperative because it was against common law for a trust settlor to be able to render a beneficiary’s absolute interest in trust funds inalienable.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Morton, C.J.)

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