160 results for 'cat:"Trusts"'.
J. Boyd finds that the court of appeals improperly ruled in a trust case arising out of a suit filed by a brother against his sister, who allegedly unlawfully transferred funds from a family trust to herself and then to her two sons. After the probate court ruled the transfer void, the court of appeals vacated the case for lack of jurisdiction, citing that the sons are the appropriate parties of the case because they are now the owners of the stocks. On the issue of jurisdiction, the court of appeals incorrectly found that the probate court did not have the authority to rule on the case without the sons being included. Reversed.
Court: Texas Supreme Court, Judge: Boyd, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 22-0674, Categories: Civil Procedure, trusts, Wills / Probate
J. Cassel finds the county court properly found the inheritance taxes were correctly paid by the trust. The decedent's girlfriend was bequeathed a house and his children sued, contesting the trust paid their $710 in taxes, as well as the girlfriend's $94,627. The trust’s language provided clear direction that inheritance taxes be paid by the trust, rather than by the individual beneficiaries. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel , Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: S-23-472, Categories: Tax, trusts, Wills / Probate
J. Jones finds the lower court erroneously granted the first wife's motion to transfer her a piece of real estate from the trust after the trustee's death. The court failed to determine whether notice in writing was the only method the second wife could use to properly revoke the original trust and implement an updated trust that named her as beneficiary. Therefore, the case will be remanded to determine whether a "writing" is the exclusive notice method for termination of the trust. Reversed.
Court: Colorado Court Of Appeals, Judge: Jones, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 2024COA51, Categories: Real Estate, trusts, Wills / Probate
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J. Dick grants summary judgment to an insurer, dismissing breach of duty allegations by the estate and family trust of a deceased doctor that allegedly resulted in her cousin being declared the sole beneficiary of the physician’s life insurance policy. The counterclaimants concede the insurer provided the doctor with a change of beneficiary form upon her request, but she never submitted the form. They also concede her cousin was named a contingent beneficiary on the policy.
Court: USDC Middle District of Louisiana, Judge: Dick, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv469, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, Insurance, trusts
J. Miller-Lerman finds the county court properly granted summary judgment against the daughter and heir. The heir from the late-mother’s trust provision bequeathing $5 million to each of her children says she has not received the full amount. Gifts the daughter had received during her mother's lifetime were not intended to be separate from the "countable assets" bequests made in the trust instruments, and they reduce the amount received under the provision. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Miller-Lerman, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: S-23-354, Categories: trusts, Wills / Probate
J. Egan finds the trial court properly dismissed a trustee's claim that mine owners breached an agreement to sell a gold mine to the trust, seeking specific performance. “The complaint was required to be signed by an attorney, and it was not.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Egan, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: A179038, Categories: trusts
J. Gruber finds the circuit court properly found for a brother, whose survivorship agreement with his mother transferred her interest in the property at issue to him upon her death. The other brothers challenged the mother's will, with the circuit court ruling it was the product of undue influence, setting it aside and imposing a constructive trust on the property in favor of the estate. The court then granted summary judgment, concluding relitigation was barred by the doctrines of law of the case and res judicata. The brother's cross-appeal for sanctions on the basis this appeal is frivolous is denied. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gruber , Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: CV-22-188, Categories: Sanctions, trusts, Wills / Probate
J. Kelly finds that the trial court properly ruled in a trust termination suit filed by an attorney, who previously represented a minor in a personal injury case that established an annuity to be paid to the minor through a trust. The trial court signed an agreed order discharging the trust, ordering it to make payments to the minor and the attorney. However, after the trust sought to vacate the order on the grounds it interfered with its contractual rights to the owner of the annuity, the trial court rescinded its previous order. On appeal, the attorney seeks to challenge the trial court's decision. Because the court's order vacating the agreement is not a final appealable judgment, the attorney lacks the authority to bring his challenge.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Kelly, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 03-23-00791-CV, Categories: Settlements, trusts
J. Schumacher finds that the lower court properly distributed trust funds over which plaintiff and his sister had been named co-trustees following the death of their parents to the sister's children rather than her estate, following the sister's death. A subsection of the trust language required that the distribution be made to the estate since the sister had failed to survive distribution. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Schumacher, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 23-0847, Categories: trusts
J. Nugee finds a lower court properly ruled in favor of a sister of a family farming and land partnership's contract claims against her brothers. The brothers argued that she was not entitled to a stake in the farming company following her resignation. However, the sister presented sufficient evidence in court that she is entitled to a stake in family trusts, estates and value of shares based on a family inheritance document forged by her father. Affirmed.
Court: Her Majesty's Court of Appeal, Judge: Nugee, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: CA-2023-1997, Categories: Agriculture, Property, trusts
J. Markey finds that a trust executed by a husband during divorce proceedings in which he disinherited his wife was rendered void upon his death because the trust held marital assets that would have otherwise been equitably divided in divorce proceedings had the husband survived until entry of judgment. Affirmed in part.
Court: Michigan Court of Appeals, Judge: Markey, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 362112, Categories: trusts, Wills / Probate
J. Clark finds that the lower court properly held that a local Methodist congregation, which broke with the national church over revised views on human sexuality, could not turn its property over to a successor congregation following disaffiliation. The property was held in an implied trust for the benefit of the national church, as since its founding the local congregation had used the insignia of "Methodist" or "United Methodist" and had abided by various administrative requirements to remain an affiliate. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Clark, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: CV-23-1059, Categories: Property, trusts
J. Kelly grants the coal company owner's estate's and the company's subsidiaries' motion to dismiss the miners' pension plan's trustees' suit alleging that the coal company's withdrawal from a collective bargaining agreement during its 2019 bankruptcy proceedings left the subsidiaries with $6.5 billion in withdrawal liability. Under the agreement, for trustees to take action on behalf of the plan, that action requires agreement by one of two union trustees and one of two employer trustees. In this case, the employer trustee pursuing the action was not properly appointed as a trustee, having been appointed as an alternate only for the purpose of addressing matters related to the bankruptcy. That trustee was not a "successor" trustee or otherwise sufficiently authorized to bring this suit.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Kelly, Filed On: March 30, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv567, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Employment, Erisa, trusts
J. Buller finds that beneficiaries were properly denied termination of a trust because continuing the trust was necessary to carry out the decedent's objective of protecting beneficiaries from bad financial decisions should they receive lump payments. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Buller, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 22-2052, Categories: trusts
J. Méndez-Miró grants the conservation trust's motion for summary judgment on a landowner's claims it fraudulently induced him into executing a deed constituting a perpetual land conservation easement in favor of the trust over his real property, misrepresenting he would receive $750,000 in tax credits. The conservation easement is a voluntary agreement limiting use of a property to protect its natural, cultural or agricultural worth. The Puerto Rico Treasury Department’s denial of the tax credit is not illegal and does not render the deed null.
Court: USDC Puerto Rico, Judge: Méndez-Miró, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv1256, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Agriculture, Property, trusts
J. Stevens finds that while the trial court properly reinstated a prior summary judgment in a property dispute case, a portion of the order should be reversed for being overbroad. The specified paragraph in the order that prohibits the owners from "using or advertising the property for special events or other non-residential uses" is overbroad, so the case is remanded for the trial court to reconsider and redraft the language. Reversed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Stevens, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 06-23-00080-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, Property, trusts
J. Bender finds that the lower court improperly granted an emergency petition to compel a trustee to make distributions to the sole current beneficiary of the Trust of John S. Middleton, the managing partner and principal owner of the Philadelphia Phillies. An evidentiary hearing is needed to determine if the court has jurisdiction over this matter. Vacated.
Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court, Judge: Bender, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: J-A21034-23, Categories: Civil Procedure, trusts, Jurisdiction
J. Wecht finds that the lower court properly denied a trust termination in this case wherein an alumnus of the Virginia Military Institute asked if its asset-controlling foundation could manage the trust rather than the independent corporate trustee who has been managing it. The burdens borne by the trust do not meet the statutory criteria for termination. Affirmed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Wecht, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: J-55-2023, Categories: Civil Procedure, trusts, Wills / Probate