## Facts

- A U.S. Army sergeant, Ulysses C. Robbins, instructed a bank to open a special “for trust” account funded by his deposits.
- Robbins directed that he alone could access the account during his lifetime.
- Robbins directed that, if he died, the bank would pay the funds to his grandfather, Ulysses Wescott, but only after Robbins had been dead for five years.
- About a week after writing the bank, Robbins wrote Wescott describing the arrangement and indicating Robbins also expected to use the money himself after the war.
- Robbins deposited about $6,900 over roughly six months.
- Robbins died overseas in 1945 before the five-year period elapsed.
- Robbins’s next of kin (minors), through the estate administrator, claimed the account as part of Robbins’s estate; Wescott claimed the funds were held in trust for him.
- The trial court ruled Wescott was entitled to the fund but deducted “allowances” for the next of kin; both sides appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether Robbins’s “for trust” bank account arrangement created a valid, enforceable trust benefiting Wescott upon Robbins’s death.
2. Whether the provision postponing payment to Wescott until five years after Robbins’s death prevented a present beneficial interest from arising, leaving the fund in the estate.
3. Whether any portion of the fund could be diverted to Robbins’s next of kin through equitable allowances despite Wescott’s claimed beneficial ownership.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of North Carolina held that Robbins created a valid trust in the bank account for Wescott.
- The five-year postponement was construed as delaying enjoyment, not preventing the trust from arising or causing the fund to remain in the estate.
- The court held the entire fund was subject to the trust and was not available for allowances to the next of kin.
- Disposition: reversed on defendants’ appeal and affirmed on plaintiff’s appeal, resulting in an award of the full fund to Wescott without deductions.

## Legal Principles

- A bank account established “in trust for” a named beneficiary can create a presently effective trust even though the depositor retains lifetime control and withdrawal power.
- Such a trust is not invalid as a testamentary disposition where the depositor manifests present trust intent and places the funds in a trust-form account with the bank holding the funds for the named beneficiary at death.
- A direction postponing payment to the beneficiary after the depositor’s death may postpone enjoyment without preventing vesting of the beneficial interest at death.
- If the account is impressed with a valid trust, the fund does not pass through the depositor’s estate and is not subject to distributions or allowances inconsistent with the trust.

## Conclusion

The court enforced the depositor’s “for trust” account instructions as a valid trust for his grandfather, treating the five-year delay as a timing provision and rejecting any estate-based allowances that would reduce the beneficiary’s entitlement to the full fund.


Wescott v. First & Citizens Nat’l Bank, 227 N.C. 39, 40 S.E.2d 461 (N.C. 1946)