158 results for 'cat:"Trusts"'.
J. Heavican finds the county court properly removed the sister as trustee of the family trusts. Proceedings distributing trust assets among the siblings following the death of the parents is described as "contentious." The court accepted the cotrustee brother's resignation, then found the sister had breached her fiduciary duty and removed her. That the rest of the siblings have requested the removal of the sister as trustee supports her removal regardless of any breach of fiduciary duty. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Heavican , Filed On: February 2, 2024, Case #: S-23-058, Categories: Family Law, trusts, Fiduciary Duty
J. Kern finds that the circuit court properly denied a daughter's motion for further discovery in an action in which a trust was left from a deceased individual and was invested in a money market account, earning a small amount of interest income. The daughter sued, claiming that a failure to properly invest the trust assets constituted bad faith and gross negligence due to the trust's small investment returns. The lower court properly granted summary judgment in favor of a bank and the son of the deceased. Affirmed.
Court: South Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Kern, Filed On: January 31, 2024, Case #: 2024SD5, Categories: trusts, Banking / Lending
J. Denney grants the trust beneficiary's motion for leave to amend her second amended answer and counterclaim. The beneficiary did not receive her inheritance of $650,000 from the trust, as she was accused of breaching a non-disparagement clause. After various discovery orders and the court's granting of leaves to amend for each party, the beneficiary has been found to have sufficiently alleged the trustee acted unfaithfully when he allegedly sent disparaging text messages about the beneficiary.
Court: USDC Nevada, Judge: Denney , Filed On: January 31, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv375, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: trusts, Wills / Probate, Contract
J. MacDonald reverses the denial of a deceased man’s former cohabitator’s motion for summary judgment against a representative of the decedent’s estate who filed a motion for summary judgment against her which was granted and is now also reversed. The agreements between the decedent and the former cohabitator are enforceable contracts. Reversed.
Court: New Hampshire Supreme Court, Judge: MacDonald, Filed On: January 30, 2024, Case #: 2023-0022, Categories: trusts, Contract
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J. Douglas finds the bankruptcy court properly developed the confirmation plan and transferred remaining assets of the wood fuel pellet processing facility to the asset liquidation trustee. Third parties assigned certain legal claims to the liquidation trust based on misstatements made by a fundraiser, and the trustee pursued these in state court. Although the fundraiser could have objected to the trustee's ability to accept third-party assignments by raising the concerns as the manufacturer developed its bankruptcy plan, it is too late to raise the concerns several years after the confirmation plan. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Douglas , Filed On: January 30, 2024, Case #: 23-30040, Categories: Bankruptcy, trusts, Business Expectancy
J. Gray finds that the lower court improperly determined that a warranty deed for the transferring of property was invalid because of a defectively acknowledged signature. The deed was valid under all the other relevant factors, and a lack of the correct acknowledgment is "no bar" to the enforcement of the deed. Affirmed.
Court: Wyoming Supreme Court, Judge: Gray, Filed On: January 23, 2024, Case #: S-23-0152, Categories: Property, trusts
J. Stargel finds that the trial court erred ordering a son and daughter to share equally rental income received from their mother’s property after her death. The son was entitled to only one-third of the total rental income. The daughter moved into the residence and breached her fiduciary duty by not paying the trust rent. Therefore, the appeals court remands this case back to the trial court to modify the damages. The trial court did properly order the daughter to pay the trust $25,900 in rental income she received from her niece who lived in the guest home. Reversed in part. Affirmed in part.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Stargel, Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: 6D23-1505, Categories: Settlements, trusts
J. Loken finds a lower court properly dismissed a bank's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act claims against a beneficiary of a trust, which houses hundreds of art works created by Thomas Hart Benton. The bank, which served as co- trustee, argued that the beneficiary engaged in "mail, wire, and bank fraud," and that it was entitled to leave to file a second amended claim. However, the beneficiary sufficiently showed in court that the bank failed to properly plead a RICO claim, and that it did not engage in fraud by directing its representation to gather trust records. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Loken , Filed On: January 4, 2024, Case #: 22-3331, Categories: Fraud, trusts, Racketeering
J. Ceresia finds that the lower court properly ordered a bank, as trustee, to refund legal fees paid out of trust assets. Certain fees were germane to administering the trust, but the bulk related to a plan to reform the trust by removing the requirement that two beneficiary organizations maintain tax-exempt, charitable status, which fell outside the clear language of the decedent's will. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Ceresia, Filed On: January 4, 2024, Case #: 535123, Categories: trusts
J. Zukin holds that the trial court properly applied the probate code to dismiss a civil complaint that alleges forgery in a trust amendment as barred by the 120-day statute of limitations. The would-be beneficiaries argued they were not contesting the trust, but their interference with inheritance rights, conversion and other causes of action all required a determination of the trust amendment's validity, which falls under the probate code. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Zukin, Filed On: December 28, 2023, Case #: B323621, Categories: trusts, Wills / Probate
J. Wolohojian affirms an order dismissing the petition and striking the objections of a man challenging the appointment of an estate’s personal representative. The man does not have standing to challenge the appointment because he is neither challenging the decedent’s will’s validity nor receiving anything from it.
Court: Massachusetts Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wolohojian, Filed On: December 27, 2023, Case #: 22-P-1232, Categories: trusts, Wills / Probate
J. Brown finds that the trial court erred in dismissing an heir's creditor claim complaint. He was entitled to file an amended petition after the trustee demurred. He may have used the wrong form, but he made the same allegations with additional detail and nothing in the record shows that the trustee was confused or misled. Also, statute allows for a creditor's claim against a trustee in order to enforce a debt or claim where neither a probate or trust claims procedure has been initiated. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Brown, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: A164622, Categories: Civil Procedure, trusts, Wills / Probate
J. Seitz finds that state law fraudulent transfer claims brought by a post-bankruptcy litigation trust constituted direct claims because the relief went to the creditors, not the company. Thus, the settlement payment and defense costs were not covered under insurance policies as a securities claim.
Court: Delaware Supreme Court, Judge: Seitz, Filed On: December 15, 2023, Case #: 478, 2022, Categories: Settlements, Securities, trusts
J. Kornmann dismisses a matter involving a Clay County Planning and Zoning Commission grant of a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to a living trust to develop land. A group of individuals who regularly use and enjoy a particular stretch of the Missouri River filed an appeal of the CUP contending that the appeal should have been heard by the Clay County Board of Commissioners. The individuals claim this appeals process is a violation of state law and county ordinance. The matter is dismissed for failure to state a claim.
Court: USDC South Dakota, Judge: Kornmann, Filed On: December 12, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv4177, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Property, trusts
J. Aarons finds that the lower court properly set compensation for an attorney who represented a beneficiary in judicial accountings for two trusts because it was not necessary to refer the matter to arbitration before a dispute resolution body since, by law, surrogate's courts may fix counsel fees. Meanwhile, malpractice allegations could not be resolved by arbitration. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Aarons, Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: 533523, Categories: Arbitration, trusts, Attorney Fees
J. Fallon denies a request by a co-trustee of a charitable trust to strike the jury trial demand of a co-trustee the court removed for breach of fiduciary duties. The surviving co-trustee's suit against his expelled cohort seeks monetary damages for funds to which the beneficiary trusts are entitled. This is a legal remedy and, therefore, the expelled trustee is entitled to a trial by jury.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Fallon, Filed On: November 30, 2023, Case #: 2:17cv5368, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: trusts, Damages, Fiduciary Duty
J. Gibbons finds the trial court properly divided property held in a revocable living trust in this divorce action. Though the ex-wife, as a licensed realtor, managed properties held in the trust, both parties are co-settlors and co-trustees, and the trust did not need to be named in the divorce or joined as a necessary party. The trial court had authority to distribute the trust's assets as community property. The ex-wife failed to overcome the community property presumption by clear and convincing evidence. Affirmed.
Court: Nevada Court of Appeals, Judge: Gibbons , Filed On: November 30, 2023, Case #: 84950-COA, Categories: Family Law, Property, trusts
J. Weisman partially grants a trust beneficiary’s motion to compel the production of documents by other trust beneficiaries — her siblings — regarding 19 law firms and businesses in which the trust’s deceased creator held his real estate investments. As laid out in the ruling in more detail, the court compels production of some documents related to these entities, but denies the beneficiary’s request for other documents.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Weisman, Filed On: November 29, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv5756, NOS: Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) - Other Suits, Categories: Real Estate, trusts, Racketeering
J. Lewison finds a lower court properly ruled in favor of the attorney general on a fiduciary trustee's challenge of its application of charitable funds. The fiduciary trustee argued that the funds should be held in charitable trusts. However, the attorney general provided sufficient evidence in court that the funds should be applied to decrease the national debt. Affirmed.
Court: Her Majesty's Court of Appeal, Judge: Lewison, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: CA-2023-851, Categories: Government, trusts, Fiduciary Duty
J. Mortensen finds that the district court properly held that an irrevocable trust had not been modified to give the settlor's second wife a role as the "Settlor's wife." Her interest in a trust property was not established by estoppel. She failed to present admissible evidence that a second trust had been established, which she asserted due to spelling errors in the the settlor's references to the trust. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mortensen, Filed On: November 9, 2023, Case #: 20210636-CA, Categories: Family Law, trusts