Settlor'S Intent

74 Florida cases classified under this topic · sorted by citation count · see the citation graph · browse and sort

• Knauer v. Barnett
  360 So. 2d 399· Fla.· 1978-06-08 ·cited 54×
  The Florida Supreme Court held that a child legitimatized through parental acknowledgment and intermarriage under Section 731.29(1) becomes the blood issue of the acknowledging father, and collateral kindred cannot challenge this legitimacy in subsequent disputes over inheritance
• Bacardi v. White
  463 So. 2d 218· Fla.· 1985-01-31 ·cited 38×
  The Florida Supreme Court held that spendthrift trust disbursements can be garnished to enforce court-ordered alimony and attorney's fees as a last resort when traditional enforcement methods prove ineffective, overruling the Third District's decision and resolving a conflict wit
• Crutcher v. Joyce
  134 F.2d 809· 10th Cir.· 1943-03-16 ·cited 36×
  The court held that the order dismissing claims related to Ella's trust was appealable and should be reversed, while other dismissals were affirmed. The court also held that James W. Crutcher was not a proper party plaintiff as he lacked a vested interest in the trust.
• Frank v. Colt Indus., Inc.
  910 F.2d 90· 3d Cir.· 1990-08-06 ·cited 30×
  The court held that the employer's creation of 'Continuance Bonuses' did not supplant employees' rights to previously established severance pay under ERISA, and the employer waived its argument that severance pay could be denied at its discretion.
• Kaikilani Robinson Walsh v. Centeio
  692 F.2d 1239· 9th Cir.· 1982-11-02 ·cited 25×
  The Ninth Circuit held that the abuse of discretion standard applies to dismissals under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 19(b) and that the district court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing the action for failure to join indispensable parties.
• Dennis v. Kline
  120 So. 3d 11· Fla. 4th DCA· 2013-06-19 ·cited 22×
  This case addresses whether a 27-year-old adult adopted by a trust beneficiary thirteen years after the settlor's death qualifies as an 'issue' under a trust that explicitly includes legally adopted persons. The court reversed summary judgment, holding that the settlor's intent r
• Reid v. In re Est. OF Edgar Sonder
  63 So. 3d 7· Fla. 3d DCA· 2011-03-23 ·cited 21×
  Cecilia Reid, as trustee of the Edgar Sonder Trust, appealed the denial of her petition to reform the trust to clarify that a gift of an apartment to her was not subject to abatement. The court affirmed the trial court's denial of reformation, finding that Reid failed to prove by
• Fenton L. Gilbert v. Gilbert
  447 So. 2d 299· Fla. 2d DCA· 1984-01-27 ·cited 20×
  In this first-of-its-kind Florida case, the court held that a spendthrift trust may be garnished to collect unpaid alimony arrearages despite explicit spendthrift language protecting the beneficiary's interests from creditor claims. The court balanced the traditional rule favorin
• In re King v. United States
  545 F.2d 700· 10th Cir.· 1976-11-19 ·cited 20×
  The dissenting judge holds that the transaction was a gift subject to gift tax, not a sale, and that the price adjustment clause is void as against public policy.
• Mesler v. Holly
  318 So. 2d 530· Fla. 2d DCA· 1975-09-05 ·cited 20×
  Appellants, great-grandchildren of a trust settlor, challenged dismissal of their declaratory judgment action against trustees of an inter vivos trust. The court reversed, holding that allegations of a trustee's self-dealing and failure to account sufficiently stated a cause of a
• Bryan v. Dethlefs
  959 So. 2d 314· Fla. 3d DCA· 2007-05-16 ·cited 18×
  Potential beneficiaries of Charles L. Bryan's revocable living trust appeal a summary judgment determining that trust assets vested in Bryan's grandson Robert R. Bizzell upon Bryan's death, making those assets part of Bizzell's estate when he later died intestate. The court affir
• Hattie S. O'Briant Greer v. United States
  448 F.2d 937· 4th Cir.· 1971-09-01 ·cited 16×
  The court held that the farm was owned as a tenancy in common, not by the entireties, thus not entitling the estate to a full marital deduction. However, the court affirmed that the charitable remainder's value was presently ascertainable and deductible.
• Funk v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
  185 F.2d 127· 3d Cir.· 1950-11-16 ·cited 14×
  The court held that the taxpayer-trustee's discretion to distribute trust income was limited by the beneficiaries' 'needs,' and therefore the income was not taxable to her as if it were her own.
• John v. L'Argent
  730 So. 2d 395· Fla. 2d DCA· 1999-04-09 ·cited 12×
  The court held that the trust's amendment provision, requiring an instrument signed by both settlors, was only exercisable during the joint lives of both settlors and not by the surviving settlor alone.
• White v. Bacardi
  446 So. 2d 150· Fla. 3d DCA· 1984-01-24 ·cited 12×
  The Florida District Court of Appeal held that income from a spendthrift trust is exempt from garnishment to satisfy an ex-wife's alimony judgment, absent clear evidence that the settlor intended the former spouse to participate as a beneficiary. The court rejected the public pol
• The First Nat'l Bank & Tr. Co. OF Okla. City v. Foster
  346 F.2d 49· 10th Cir.· 1965-05-24 ·cited 12×
  The court held that the settlor's repeated exercise of the reserved power to modify trust provisions, including designating beneficiaries, did not constitute a revocation of the expressly irrevocable trust.
• Garrett's Estate v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
  180 F.2d 955· 2d Cir.· 1950-03-31 ·cited 12×
• Nelson v. Nelson
  206 So. 3d 818· Fla. 2d DCA· 2016-12-16 ·cited 11×
  In this divorce dissolution appeal, the court reversed the trial court's decision to include a California home held in an irrevocable trust as a marital asset subject to equitable distribution. The court held that once property is transferred into an irrevocable trust, it becomes
• Watson v. ST. Petersburg Bank & Tr. Co.
  146 So. 2d 383· Fla. 2d DCA· 1962-10-17 ·cited 11×
  Carol Watson appealed a trial court's determination that a Trust Agreement between her and her deceased husband, trustee bank, and administrator was invalid and created no enforceable trust. The appellate court affirmed, finding the agreement failed to evidence clear and convinci
• Norton Euart v. Yoakley
  456 So. 2d 1327· Fla. 4th DCA· 1984-10-10 ·cited 10×
  A will provision can constitute a valid revocation of an inter vivos trust only when it contains explicit language that clearly manifests the settlor's present intent to revoke the trust; a disposition of property described generically (as "real estate which I own in Fort Lauderd
• Guidry v. Pinellas Cent. Bank & Tr. Co. under declaration of Tr. with Henrik Ovesen
  310 So. 2d 386· Fla. 2d DCA· 1975-03-26 ·cited 10×
  This case addresses whether an inter vivos trust's directive to pay a decedent's estate taxes from trust corpus is effective to override Florida's statutory scheme for equitable apportionment of estate taxes. The court held that a trust can only direct payment of taxes attributab
• L.B. McLEMORE v. McLEMORE
  675 So. 2d 202· Fla. 1st DCA· 1996-06-04 ·cited 9×
  This quiet title action concerns whether a trust created by Klenton T. McLemore in 1978 is valid and whether appellants established title to five parcels of Gulf County property conveyed to "McLemore's Trust." The trial court voided the trust for indefiniteness because the settlo
• Kunce v. Robinson
  469 So. 2d 874· Fla. 3d DCA· 1985-05-14 ·cited 9×
  Ruth Ulery created a revocable living trust in 1980, then established a second trust in 1981 with nearly identical terms but with an additional phrase allowing the trustee to make distributions to "others as the Trustee in his discretion may deem appropriate." Her daughters chall
• Reid v. Temple Judea & Hebrew Union Coll. Jewish Inst. of Religion
  994 So. 2d 1146· Fla. 3d DCA· 2008-06-11 ·cited 8×
  Cecilia Reid, as trustee of the Edgar Sonder Trust, appealed a dismissal order claiming lack of standing to seek reformation of the trust based on alleged scrivener's error. The court reversed, holding that a trustee has standing to seek reformation of a trust to conform its term
• Robbins v. Hunyady
  498 So. 2d 955· Fla. 2d DCA· 1986-07-23 ·cited 8×
  Virginia Robbins appealed a trial court decision that invalidated her transfer of Trust B assets to a new trust favoring her children. The appellate court reversed, holding that the declaration of trust unambiguously granted her the authority to invade and transfer the principal
• Cornelia H. Maytag v. United States
  493 F.2d 995· 10th Cir.· 1974-01-30 ·cited 8×
  The court held that the decedent possessed a general power of appointment because the settlor's intent, as expressed in the trust instruments and governed by Colorado law, was for the decedent to participate as co-trustee in decisions to terminate the trusts.
• Minassian v. Rachins
  152 So. 3d 719· Fla. 4th DCA· 2014-12-03 ·cited 7×
  The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed a trial court's invalidation of a trust protector's amendments to a family trust. The court held that the trust provisions were ambiguous regarding whether separate trusts would be created for the settlor's children upon the wife's dea
• Vigliani v. Bank OF Am., N.A.
  189 So. 3d 214· Fla. 2d DCA· 2016-03-09 ·cited 6×
  This case concerns the interpretation of a revocable living trust to determine whether the Family Trust should be funded with the $3.5 million federal estate tax exemption amount available when the trust was restated in 2009, or the $5 million exemption available at the settlor's
• Ludwig v. Amsouth Bank OF Fla.
  686 So. 2d 1373· Fla. 2d DCA· 1997-01-08 ·cited 6×
  Evelyn Ludwig, as personal representative of her deceased husband's estate, appealed a trial court order holding that two trusts created by the Fishers survived her husband Robert's death and his estate had no claim to them. The court affirmed, finding the trusts' savings clause
• Holbrook v. United States
  575 F.2d 1288· 9th Cir.· 1978-06-01 ·cited 6×
  The court held that the decedent's life income interest in a trust was not susceptible to valuation due to broad trustee powers, thus disqualifying the estate from a tax credit under Section 2013.
• Marien E. Durst and G. Chester Durst v. The United States
  559 F.2d 910· 3d Cir.· 1977-07-07 ·cited 6×
  The court held that the settlor did not retain the power to appoint himself trustee, and therefore the trust's value was not includable in his gross estate for tax purposes.
• Mariani v. Mariani
  125 So. 3d 222· Fla. 4th DCA· 2013-02-06 ·cited 5×
• Bellamy v. Langfitt
  86 So. 3d 1170· Fla. 3d DCA· 2012-04-25 ·cited 4×
  The appellate court reversed and remanded an order that approved a settlement agreement between co-trustees and dismissed a counter-petition, finding that the trial court erred in its proceedings.
• Hansen v. Bothe
  10 So. 3d 213· Fla. 2d DCA· 2009-04-22 ·cited 4×
  The court held that the doctrine of merger did not apply to terminate the trust, as the settlor's intent and the remaining equitable interests of beneficiaries prevented termination upon divorce.
• Lopez v. Rodriguez
  574 So. 2d 249· Fla. 3d DCA· 1991-02-05 ·cited 4×
  Lourdes Rodriguez Lopez, as personal representative of Isabel Rodriguez's estate, appealed the dismissal of claims against Carlos Rodriguez and Southeast Bank regarding Totten trust accounts. The court affirmed the dismissal, holding that Florida's Slayer Statute does not revoke
• Horgan v. Cosden
  249 So. 3d 683· Fla. 2d DCA· 2018-05-25 ·cited 3×
  A court may not terminate an irrevocable trust under Florida Statutes sections 736.04113 or 736.04115 when the undisputed facts show no waste of assets, no fulfillment of trust purposes, and the termination would frustrate the settlor's clearly expressed intent to provide increme
• Reno v. Hurchalla
  283 So. 3d 367· Fla. 3d DCA· 2019-08-21 ·cited 2×
  This case concerns the interpretation of a trust regarding a historically significant homestead property. The appellate court affirmed a lower court's decision to allow the trustee to transfer the property to a different charitable institution than originally named, applying the
• Bernal v. Christiane E. Marin
  196 So. 3d 432· Fla. 3d DCA· 2016-06-15 ·cited 2×
  Oscar Bernal appeals a summary judgment upholding a revocable trust against a later-executed will that purported to revoke it. The court reversed, holding that Florida Statute § 736.0602(3)(b)(2) permits revocation of a trust by any method manifesting clear and convincing evidenc
• Dowdy v. Dowdy
  182 So. 3d 807· Fla. 2d DCA· 2016-01-06 ·cited 2×
  Betty Dowdy appealed a temporary injunction requiring her to deposit $100,000 in court proceeds from a trust property sale. The court reversed, holding that Michael Dowdy, her stepson and alleged co-trustee, had no likelihood of success on the merits because he did not become a s
• Megiel-Rollo v. Megiel
  162 So. 3d 1088· Fla. 2d DCA· 2015-04-17 ·cited 2×
  The court reversed summary judgment against a trust beneficiary seeking reformation of a revocable trust that failed to include a contemplated schedule of beneficial interests. The court held that Florida Statute § 736.0415 permits reformation to correct drafting errors affecting
• Siegel v. JP Morgan Chase Bank
  71 So. 3d 935· Fla. 4th DCA· 2011-10-19 ·cited 2×
  Beneficiaries of a revocable trust challenged the trial court's summary judgment ruling that they lacked standing to contest pre-death distributions and expenditures made by the trustee and the settlor's attorney-in-fact. The appellate court reversed, holding that the beneficiari
• Matilda Sauter v. Bravo
  771 So. 2d 1213· Fla. 4th DCA· 2000-10-25 ·cited 2×
  In this second appeal regarding Vincent Bravo's estate, the Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's ruling that Rose Bravo, as income beneficiary of the trust, is entitled to receive minimum three-percent distributions under Florida Statute § 738.12(1)(a), notw
• Childs v. Nat'l Bank OF Austin
  658 F.2d 487· 7th Cir.· 1981-08-25 ·cited 2×
  A trustee's agent who obtains a management position in a corporation owned by the trust, even if intended by the settlor, must account to the trust for any salary received from that position, absent specific exceptions.
• Robinson v. The United States
  632 F.2d 822· 9th Cir.· 1980-11-13 ·cited 2×
  The court held that the trust instrument's power of appointment provision was clear and unambiguous, and that the IRS properly used mortality tables to value the decedent's reversionary interest for estate tax purposes.
• Elwin Donald Brenneman v. Bennett
  420 F.2d 19· 8th Cir.· 1970-01-06 ·cited 2×
  The court held that a reserved power of sale in a trust instrument does not constitute a power to revoke the trust.
• Wasserman v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
  139 F.2d 778· 1st Cir.· 1944-01-07 ·cited 2×
  The court held that savings bank deposits made by the decedent, even if validly created as trusts under Massachusetts law, were intended to take effect in possession or enjoyment at or after her death and thus should be included in her gross estate for tax purposes.
• Barrett v. Bettina Caserta Kapoor
  278 So. 3d 876· Fla. 3d DCA· 2019-08-28 ·cited 1×
  The appellate court affirmed a summary judgment in favor of the co-trustees, holding that a beneficiary's right to net proceeds from a trust property sale was contingent on her surviving the sale, not just the grantor's death. This decision clarifies the intent of the trust instr
• Sibley v. Est. of Curtiss F. Sibley
  273 So. 3d 1062· Fla. 3d DCA· 2019-04-03 ·cited 1×
  A statutory provision allowing an administratively dissolved corporation to relate back its reinstatement to the date of dissolution does not apply when determining whether a charitable foundation beneficiary was in existence at a fixed point in time (the settlor's death) for pur
• Norton v. Ruste Durnal Bridges
  712 F.2d 1156· 7th Cir.· 1983-07-15 ·cited 1×
  A Wisconsin court can assert personal jurisdiction over defendants in a trust dispute if the trust was registered in Wisconsin and the settlor granted the Wisconsin court power to appoint successor trustees, satisfying due process minimum contacts, even if trust assets are locate
• Of
  Del. Ch.· 2024-12-13
  The Court of Chancery granted the Trustees' motion for summary judgment, holding that the no-contest clause in the Barrington Trust was enforceable against Leanne Eicoff. Leanne's actions challenging the trust, will, and other instruments triggered the clause, and her voluntary d