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Broadway National Bank v. Adams

Citation
[1]

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Bloomberg Law [2]

Brief Fact Summary. The Plaintiffs, Broadway, had a debt due from defendant Adams.  A trust fund created for Adams’s brother Charles Adams by will called for $75,000 to be held in trust, income to be paid semiannually to Charles, and Adams wanted to attach the debt to this trust.


Synopsis of Rule of Law. The public policy rule that subjects a debtor’s property to the payment of his debts does not subject the property of a donor to the debts of his beneficiary, and does not give the creditor a right to complain that it is out of reach.


Facts. The Plaintiffs, Broadway, had a debt due from defendant Adams.  A trust fund created for Adams’s brother Charles Adams by will called for $75,000 to be held in trust, income to be paid semiannually to Charles.  Upon Charles’s death the income to be paid to Charles’s wife (if she survives Charlie) for the benefit of herself and the children of Charles in equal proportions, so long as she remains single.  Upon their death to be shared equally by the children of Charles and all his wives.


Issue. Whether the founder of a trust can secure the income of a trust to his heirs, by providing that it shall not be alienable by him or be subject to be taken by creditors.


Held. Bill dismissed.  Under the provisions of a valid will the income of a trust fund created for the benefit of another cannot be reached by attachment, either at law or in equity, before it is paid to the beneficiary.


Discussion. Under the provisions of the will the income of the trust fund created for the benefit of the defendant Adams cannot be reached by attachment, either at law or in equity, before it is paid to him.