What Happened To Bess Hine-Cates' Cemetery Bequest.
By Edward K. Hine, Jr. ("Ted", half first cousin
once removed) - August 2020 Background When Elizabeth Hine-Cates (Bess) passed away in 1972 her will set up a trust in the amount of $20,000 for the perpetual care of the "family burial lot and monuments" in the Riverside Cemetery in Poland, Ohio (aka Poland Cemetery Association). In 2020 dollars this would be the equivalent of $116,000. Since Bess had no children and thus no direct descendents with a possible interest in periodically checking on the status of the trust, in 2017 I decided to do so after I learned of it's existence from a 1972 newspaper article. As my research progressed, the wording of her bequest suggested to me that the trust may also have been intended to maintain the Hine monument adjacent to her Cates monument, the Hine monument being the final resting place of my direct ancestors including our common ancestor Samuel Hine who was Bess's grandfather. The Will When I started my research all I had to go on was the mention of the bequest in a newspaper article however over a period of many months (bureaucracies move slowly) I was able to obtain numerous documents from government archives as well as the trust company regarding the trust starting with a copy of Bess's Last Will And Testament. The cemetery bequest is covered in Item V (a) and (b) of the will found on pages 7 and 8 of the document.
Section (a) is a long and likely boiler plate legal statement of intent which, among other things, I read as anticipating inflation with statements such as "the possibility of so-called currency inflation" and directing the trustee to preserve the spending power of the trust's principal against this by investing in a diverse portfolio designed to protect the principal's spending power and hedge against inflation. Section (b) is more specific and reads in part "I direct that my said Trustee shall use such portion of the net income [emphasis mine] from such trust as it may deem proper for the perpetual care, maintenance, and upkeep of our family burial lot and monuments [emphasis again mine] in the cemetery at Poland, Ohio, and any remaining portion of said income, for such purpose incident to said cemetery, generally, and my said Trustee may deem proper." My interpretation of the intent of the will is two fold. First, I believe it very likely that Bess intended that he bequest cover both the Cates "monument" and the Hine "monument" which both memorialize "family" members and are located near (adjacent?) to each other. The word "lot" is singular but as I write this I have been unable to determine if the Cates and Hine monuments are on a single cemetery lot or two lots from a legal perspective. But I do note that there are two monuments very near each other which memorialize Bess and her ancestral "family members". Second, it's clear to me that Bess intended that funds she put in the trust be invested in such a way as to protect the spending power of the principal over time from inflation and that only the income be used for perpetual maintenance. A dictionary definition of "perpetual" reads "lasting forever, never-ending" and "continuing or being so for an indefinitely long time". The Trust Company The trust company named in the will was The Dollar Savings and Trust Company of Youngstown, Ohio. Over the years since the trust was established in 1973 the company has merged and the name changed several times and is currently PNC Institutional Asset Management in Youngstown. PNC and the Mahoning County Probate Court provided me numerous court and other documents regarding the trust over the years including some of the annual financial reports filed with the Mahoning County Court by the trust company. I was shocked to find that, in spite of Bess's specific desire to have the principal invested to protect against inflation, this had not been done. From 1973 till 2003 the principle was effectively kept in an interest bearing savings account, the interest of which was transferred to the cemetery, but which didn't protected against inflation which was rampant in the later 1970's and 1980's and continued a lower rate thereafter. The original $20,000 was still shown with a principal balance of $20,000 but in significantly deflated dollars. Thus the spending power of the original $20,000 had been reduced massively and was by 2003 a small fraction of it's original worth in real dollars. PNG could not give me an adequate explanation as to why inflation protective investments were not made but simply indicated that it was managed a long time ago by predecessor companies and that no one involved was around any longer to ask. I'm not a lawyer but I wonder if the trust company (and it's successors) or the Court, which received annual reports from the trust and I believe was responsible for keeping tabs on the trust, have some liability for not investing the trust's funds as specified in Bess's will. Continuing to follow the money..... In late 2002 the principal value of the trust had fallen below the inflation adjusted Ohio statutory amount for which trust companies were required to continue to maintain them. In effect the principal amount fell below that which trust companies could economically afford to manage. At this time the value of the Trust (principal and a little accumulated interest was $21,473.30). The trust (then managed by the National City Bank) thus petitioned the Mahoning County Probate Court to terminate the trust which was done by order of a judge on Feb. 14, 2003.
The termination judgment directed the trustee to
give the remaining funds to the cemetery which amounted to $20,000
plus a little accumulated interest. The judgment states in
part "It is further ORDERED [judge's
emphasis] that the Poland Cemetery Association
shall maintain the funds distributed in an account for the perpetual
care, maintenance, and upkeep of the Elizabeth Hine Cates family
burial lot and monuments" (wording from
the original will and trust).
Riverside Cemetery As I write this in 2020 I have been unable to determine whether the Riverside Cemetery (Poland Cemetery Association) in fact set up the required account and, if so, whether it still exists. The Riverside Cemetery is relatively small, I believe around 30 acres, and I suspect doesn't maintain much in the way of an office staff nor have the capability to administer specific bequests so I wouldn't be surprised if the $20,000 ended up in a joint fund of some type. I note that the Cates and Hine monuments, whether on one "lot" or two, don't take up a lot of space and thus don't require a lot of upkeep other than maintaining the grass. Conclusion / Observation
I was dumbfounded to discover that a trust
containing a significant amount of money and which was intended to
go on in perpetuity effectively lasted only 30 years.
There is a lesson here regarding how future trusts should be set up
and monitored over the years to make sure the original intent
is followed. In this case the trust company clearly
didn't invest the funds as directed and no one was checking to make
sure they did likely since Bess had no direct descendents with an interest
in monitoring the trust in the years following her death.
Begs the question "can financial trusts really be trusted". |
