Estate Of Knip

414 A.2d 1007 (1980)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

On November 9, 1972, letters testamentary were issued to appellee as executor of decedent's estate. The will created a testamentary trust. The beneficiaries were the appellants, and the will designated the appellee to act as trustee. The estate included shares of Sears worth $470,000 which represented 71% of the estate total assets and 97% of the value of all stock in the estate. Only 400 shares of the 4,314 were sold during the first year of administration. Those sales were made to cover the cost of administration rather than for reinvestment. Appellee was given absolute discretion to retain or sell such property by the provisions in the will. Evidence adduced was that during this period Sears stock was reasonably believed to be a sound, national, broad-based stock worthy of investment by a fiduciary. From the facts, Sears stock performed poorly. The trial court found the retention of the stock proper and denied surcharge.