Suit by the plaintiff as administrator with the will annexed of Isaac Beers, for the construction of certain provisions in the will; brought to the Superior Court in Fairfield County, and reserved for the advice of this court. No question of general interest was involved except one with regard to the construction of Gen. Statutes, § 495, and the opinion of the court upon the rest of the case, is, by direction of the judges, omitted.
Key passage — most relied on by later courts
““If they invest in the securities expressly allowed by the statute, they will, except under very extraordinary circumstances, be protected, no matter how the investment may result. Acting within the express provisions of the statute would be, of itself, proof of good faith and sound discretion. “All investments other than those named' in the statute must be justified, when occasion requires, under the rigid rules applicable to investments made by trustees upon their own judgment.””
Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know
Decided 1891-06-01
How this case has been cited
Cited by 8 later decisions — most recently January 1979
2 district · 6 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
¶1
As to the power given at the close of clause seventh, to invest the proceeds arising from the sale of a part or the whole of the residue, there is nothing in the language conferring other than the ordinary rights and duties upon the trustees named therein. They must invest under the responsibilities usually attaching to trustees.
¶2
We do not construe the provisions of section 495 of the General Statutes as mandatory and as depriving trustees of all discretion as to investments. If they invest in the securities expressly allowed by the statute they will, except under very extraordinary circumstances, be protected, no matter how the investment may result. Acting within the
*89
express provisions of the statute would be, of itself, proof of good faith and sound discretion.
¶3
All investments other than those named in the statute must be justified, when occasion requires, under the rigid rules applicable to investments made by trustees upon their own judgment.
