Spedden v. Norton

The appellants are life beneficiaries of a trust created by the will of Robert M. Spedden, who died on April 1st, 1911. Among the assets of the trust are 183 shares of the capital stock of the Edmondson Realty Company, having a par value of $100 per share. A cash “liquidating dividend” of fifteen per cent, of the par value of the stock has been declared by the board of directors of the company, following other similarly characterized dividends aggregating one hundred per cent, of the par value of the stock, and the principal question for decision is whether the latest dividend of that…