Seifert v. Southern National Bank of South Carolina
South Carolina Supreme Court
409 S.E.2d 337 (1991)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Agnes Seifert (plaintiff) and Harry Seifert were married. Harry created a revocable inter vivos trust (the original trust) in favor of his children from a prior marriage, Barbara Meyers and Charlotte Knaub (defendants). Harry placed most of his estate in this trust. The trust agreement stated that the trustee could not sell or invest any of the trust’s assets without Harry’s approval. The trust also provided that upon Harry’s death, a separate trust, the Agnes T. Seifert Trust, would be carved out from the original trust. The Seifert Trust was to contain $150,000. The value of the original trust at the time of Harry’s death was $800,000. Harry’s will provided that Agnes would receive the marital home but that all residue would go to the original trust. Upon Harry’s death, Agnes requested her statutory elective share and filed an action claiming that the original trust should be included in Harry’s estate for purposes of calculating this share. The master-in-equity held that the original trust was not part of Harry’s estate for purposes of determining Agnes’s elective share. Agnes appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Toal, J.)
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