National Academy Of Sciences v. Cambridge Trust Co.

370 Mass. 303, 346 N.E.2d 879 (1976)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

Testator established a trust consisting of most of his estate, the income from which was payable to his widow during her life, or until she remarried. Upon the widow's death or remarriage, the trust was to be held for the benefit of the National Academy of Sciences (P). Testator's widow remarried but failed to notify the Trustee (D) of this fact. She directed that her income payments be made to her brother-in-law. D continued making payments until the widow's death over twenty years after her remarriage. D did not know that the widow had remarried until after her death. D submitted its accounts for the period between the widow's remarriage and about a year before her death to the probate court: the accounts were allowed. P did not challenge them at the time they were admitted because it was unaware of the widow's remarriage. The lower court found in P's favor, holding that the account statements prepared by D constituted a representation to P that Testator's widow remained unmarried, and continued to be the income beneficiary of the trust. The court found that D's representations constituted fraud because it had a duty to be aware of the true circumstances. The probate court ordered D to restore $114,314.18 to the trust. D appealed.