Sam Franklin and Bill Cameron received a decision in Anderson v. Dussault, from Division II of the Court of Appeals affirming summary judgment against a trust beneficiary who claimed mismanagement of a special needs trust. The opinion will be published and fills a hole in the much needed area of potential liabilities for attorneys who represent trustees. The plaintiff was injured when she was six and received a substantial award, which was placed in a special needs trust for her benefit. Over the years, the trustee made payments for various things including some of which benefitted the plaintiff’s mother, who had primary custody during most of her minority. Three days before her 21st birthday, the beneficiary sued her mother, the co-trustee of the specials needs trust, who had also been her attorney in the tort action, the successor trustee Wells Fargo Bank and the attorneys who had assisted in preparing annual reports for the Superior Court. The Court of Appeals found that the beneficiary could not challenge trust expenditures once they had been approved by the Superior Court and affirmed the dismissal of the action. The court further found that the claims against Wells Fargo Bank and Wells Fargo’s attorneys lacked merit. The Court awarded them their costs and fees.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 19:28:24 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015