ANNUITIES - SATISFACTION OF PRIOR DEFICIENCIES FROM INCOME SURPLUSAGES OF SUBSEQUENT YEARS

Testatrix left her estate in trust for the purpose of paying certain sums of money annually to named beneficiaries. In a codicil to her will, she provided that in case there was insufficient income to meet expenses and pay all annuities stated, certain of the beneficiaries were to be preferred. Deficiencies occurred so that all sums were not paid, but subsequently there was surplus income which the trustees desired to apply to the prior deficiencies. Held, one justice dissenting, that the surplus after paying the annuities for the present year could be applied to the deficiencies which had occurred previously since testatrix showed no clear intention that arrearages should not be made up from subsequent income surplusages; rather her intention was that the annuitants should have the stated sums.

In re Lowrie's Estate, 294 Mich. 298, 293 N. W. 656 (1940).