City Bank Farmers Trust Co. v. Cannon

51 N.E. 2d 674 (1943)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Mary, the settlor, and life beneficiary, placed trustee in a position of divided loyalty in that she continued a trust and knowing that the Bank's stock was part of the trust corpus and that the trustee was now affiliated with the Bank. Of course, the Bank stock fell, and now the residual beneficiaries of the trust want to hold trustee liable for the loss. The trial court found that the settlor had the power to revoke the trust or to amend it so as to remove the trustee or to require the trustee to sell the stock of the Bank. Because the settlor had knowledge of the facts, this as a matter of law, this placed the trustee in a position of divided loyalty, but the settlor consented to this position; as such the trustee was not guilty of a breach of trust in continuing as trustee and continuing to hold the Bank's stock. This appeal resulted.