Matter Of Pulitzer

249 N.Y.S. 97 (Surr. Ct. 1931), aff'd mem, 260 N.Y.S. 975 (1932)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Pulitzer died in 1911 and he left a will with four codicils. In the first codicil, he gave the shares of capital stock of the Press Publishing Company and his shares of Pulitzer Publishing Company in trust for life of each of his two youngest sons, Joseph and Herbert. This trust was called the Newspaper Trust. The trustees were the two beneficiaries and Pulitzer's other son Ralph. The trust gave a discretionary power of sale as listed on page 690 Scoles 6th. However, that power would not allow them to sell the shares of the Press Publishing Company. A serious and imperative emergency was claimed to exist that dictated a need for the sale of that stock and it was alleged if the stock were not sold, it would be lost to the trust, the life tenants and remaindermen. There were fifteen remaindermen in existence, one was an adult, and the other fourteen were infants. They were represented by two special guardians, and both of them joined in the request to sell.