Wells v. Sanford
Arkansas Supreme Court
663 S.W.2d 174, 281 Ark. 242 (1984)
- Written by Mary Pfotenhauer, JD
Facts
Hiram Wells executed a will, which left his assets in trust for his mother, Nora Wells, during her lifetime. The trust nominated Elvan Sanford as trustee, and required the trustee to use the trust assets “as may be necessary” for Nora’s “support and maintenance.” After Nora’s death, any remaining trust assets were to be given to Elvan and Koleta Sanford. Elvan was appointed as Nora’s guardian after she was declared incompetent. Hiram died before Nora. Elvan (plaintiff) petitioned the probate court for permission to sell Nora’s own real estate assets and use the proceeds for Nora’s support. Nora’s children, J.C. Wells and Irene Bain (defendants), objected, and petitioned the probate court to sell the trust assets and use those proceeds for Nora’s support. The probate court found that Hiram intended the trust to be used to support Nora only if her own property was not sufficient to maintain her support, so that Hiram’s siblings would inherit less, and ordered Nora’s assets to be sold. Nora’s children appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Hollingsworth, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 782,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
