Harris Trust and Savings Bank v. Beach Case Brief Summary | Law Case Explained

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Harris Trust and Savings Bank v. Beach | 513 N.E.2d 833, 118 Ill.2d 1, 112 Ill.Dec.224 (1987)

In Harris Trust and Savings Bank versus Beach, we’ll see whether courts may look to the intent of the grantor when determining the time at which a gift vests.

In nineteen twenty-one, Frank Hixon and his fiancée Alice Green entered into a prenuptial agreement that created a trust of two hundred shares of stock. The agreement held that if Green survived Hixon, then the trust would be paid to Hixon’s heirs upon Green’s death. However, if Hixon survived Green, then the trust would revert to Hixon. In nineteen twenty-six, after Hixon and Green were married, Hixon and Green created a second trust with similar terms regarding how the trust would pass upon Hixon’s or Green’s death. In nineteen thirty-one, Hixon died. At the time Hixon died, he was survived by Green, his two daughters, and his grandchildren. Green later died in nineteen eighty-two. At the time Green died, Hixon’s living descendants included two grandchildren and the children of his deceased grandchild.

After Green’s death, Hixon’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren, represented by Frances Beach, filed suit to determine how to distribute the trust. Beach argued that, under the terms of the trust, Hixon’s heirs were any descendants who were alive at the time Green died. This would mean that the trust would pass to Hixon’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren. However, one of Hixon’s daughters never had children and left her estate to four charities in her will. The four charities argued that Hixon’s heirs should only be Hixon’s descendants who were alive when Hixon died. Under this interpretation, the trust would pass under his daughters’ wills, so the charities would receive a share of the trusts. The charities and Beach filed motions for summary judgment. The trial court held that the class of heirs was established at the time Hixon died, so the charities could receive a share of the trusts. Beach appealed. The court of appeals upheld the trial court’s ruling. Beach appealed again. The Illinois Supreme Court granted cert.

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