Recent Cases of Interest to Fiduciaries: June 2020

June 18, 2020

In the most recent installment of the McGuireWoods Fiduciary Advisory Services annual multipart series on recent fiduciary cases, developments in the law concerning various topics are examined through the following:

Tangwall v. Wacker, 2019 WL 4746742 (Montana September 30, 2019). Vexatious litigant attempts to evade collection through fraudulent transfers to self-settled domestic asset protection trust were denied.

In the Matter of Estate of Cooney, 454 P.3d 1190 (Montana December 24, 2019). Contract to make a will claim was not within the jurisdiction of the probate court.

Waldron v. Susan R. Winking Trust, 2019 WL 3024767, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 5867 (Tex. Ct. App. July 10, 2019). A Texas Court of Appeals held that a trustee’s fiduciary duties are not discharged until the trustee has been replaced by a successor trustee.

Sibley v. Sibley, 273 So. 3d 1062 (Fla. Ct. App. 2019). A Florida appellate court held that an administratively dissolved private foundation is not in existence on the decedent’s date of death for purposes of a bequest to that foundation, even when the private foundation is later reinstated.

Liebovich v. Tobin, 2019 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 5930. Remainder beneficiaries have standing to challenge a court order amending a revocable trust to partially disinherit these beneficiaries when one of the settlors was not given proper notice of the request for entry of such an order.

Matter of Troy S. Poe Trust, 2019 WL 4058593 (Tex. Ct. App. August 28, 2019). Texas appellate court determined that jury trials are available in trust modification actions to determine disputed facts.

Blech v. Blech, 38 Cal.App.5th 941 (2019). In California, creditors may request trust assets be made payable directly to the creditor even from a spendthrift trust once the amount to be distributed to a beneficiary is determined

Matter of Sochurek, 174 A.D.3d 908 (NY App. Div. 2019). Beneficiary claim against an executor for breach of fiduciary duty does not necessarily cause that beneficiary to violate an in terrorem clause.

Bazazzadegan v. Vernon, 588 S.W. 3d 796 (Ark. Ct. App. 2019). Arkansas Court of Appeals holds that an arbitration provision in a trust is mandatory and bound successor co-trustees and beneficiaries of the trust.

Matter of Bruce F. Evertson Dynasty Trust, 446 P.3d 705 (Wyo. 2019). Wyoming Supreme Court holds that a trustee with the power to distribute income and principal for any purpose had the authority to decant a trust. However, the Supreme Court held that the trial court erred by considering whether a specific decanting proposal was permissible.

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