Swart v. Security-First National Bank

DRAPEAU, J. pro tem. On June 30, 1928, in the “Little Church Around the Corner” in the city of New York, Perry Z. Benton Swart and Pearl Tinsley Johnson were married. It was the third marriage for Mrs. Swart, her two former husbands having died. From her first husband’s estate she received a large amount of money and property, the income of which was sufficient to enable her to live in affluent circumstances. This income was used by Mr. and Mrs. Swart in maintaining a fine home in Los Angeles, and in extensive domestic and foreign travel.

For the purpose of taking care of a portion of her property, investing and re-investing it, Mrs. Swart from time to time deposited certain assets-with corporate trustees, reserving a power of appointment and disposal over the income and corpus of the trust estates.

On June 17, 1929, Mrs. Swart caused one of these trusts which she had with the Security-First National Bank to be amended so that if Mr. Swart survived her, he was to be paid the trust income for life, with remainder to certain named beneficiaries. On February 21, 1935, Mrs. Swart again caused this trust to be amended, providing that upon her death, her husband was to receive all of the corpus of the trust estate, [826]except a $2,500 gift out of it to be paid to Bernard Claggett, her chauffeur.

Mr. and Mrs. Swart lived happily together until the latter part of 1936, when a serious situation developed for them both. She changed. Instead of conducting herself as an intelligent, well-groomed woman, she became uncleanly and careless of her personal appearance; she drank more than was good for her; she became more and more irrational, until she died October 24, 1937, in a private sanitarium, hopelessly insane.

For the sake of brevity we will hereafter refer to Mr. Swart as the plaintiff, and to Mrs. Swart as the decedent.

As the malady of this unfortunate lady progressed, her' love and affection for her husband changed to suspicion and hatred, until on May 4, 1937, without any previous intimation to him, she filed suit for divorce in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, and caused due service of complaint and summons to be made.

On May 29, 1937, the decedent made a last will in which she did not mention her husband. On May 29, 1937, decedent caused the trust to be amended, substituting a brother of her first husband as beneficiary in place of the plaintiff. By these instruments, dated May 29, 1937, and the conveyance of an apartment house, to be discussed in the opinion following, the decedent attempted to terminate any and all rights which the plaintiff might have had in or to any of her property.