Wickman v. McGraw (In re Trust under Will of Wickman)

Carl Robert Wickman, decedent, bequeathed one-third of his estate to his widow, Elizabeth McGraw (defendant), and two-thirds to a testamentary trust for the benefit of his two sons, Carl Victor Wickman (Victor) and Robin Wickman (plaintiffs). The trust provided income to Elizabeth for life with the entire trust corpus passing to Victor and Robin as the remaindermen. Victor and Robin were minors at the time of Carl’s death in 1960. Elizabeth was both the trustee of the testamentary trust and the executor of Carl’s estate. Carl’s estate was closed and distributed in 1964; however, Elizabeth did not file an accounting for the testamentary trust until the court ordered her to do so in 1969. After the accounting was filed, Victor and Robin objected, arguing that because Elizabeth valued the estate’s assets as of Carl’s death in 1960 rather than as of the date of distribution in 1964, (1) assets distributed to Elizabeth for her one-third share of the estate were undervalued, effectively giving Elizabeth more than one-third of the estate, and (2) assets distributed to the trust were overvalued, effectively giving Victor and Robin less than two-thirds of the estate. Accordingly, Victor and Robin sought to have Elizabeth’s accounting disapproved and to have her removed as trustee for breaching her fiduciary duty of loyalty. Elizabeth countered, relying on the provision in Carl’s will stating that the trustee’s valuation of estate assets was to be final and conclusive. Without allowing Victor and Robin to present evidence supporting their arguments, the trial court ruled in favor of Elizabeth. Victor and Robin appealed.