Ken and Sue Weeks created an irrevocable trust called the Agusta [sic] National Trust. Two pieces of real estate were deeded to the trust. One deed misspelled the name of the trustee, and the other deed misspelled the name of the trust as the Augusta National Trust. Ken and Sue divorced, and as a part of the divorce settlement, Ken received ownership of the two properties, which remained in the name of the trust. Ken subsequently married Michele. During the subsequent years, Ken wrote letters to the trustees of the trust, making certain they knew that his two children with Michele also were beneficiaries of the trust. He also made statements in these letters about allowing Michele to continue to live in the house owned by the trust. After Ken died unexpectedly, Michele attempted to enforce these writings, contending that the misspellings in the deeds created a second trust governing the real estate. She also argued that the terms of the trust provided benefits for the “Settlor’s Wife.” Since Ken was the settlor and she was his wife, she was entitled to those benefits.
Ken’s children with Sue objected. The trial court found that the various notes and letters from Ken were not sufficient to change the terms of the trust and that the clear intention when the trust was created was for the real estate to be governed by the Agusta National Trust, regardless of the misspellings in the deeds. The court noted that the trust specifically defined “Settlor’s Wife” to mean Sue. Nothing in the trust contemplated a subsequent spouse, and the divorce decree did not modify the trust. The court entered a judgment against Michele for $465,643.66.
On appeal, the court interpreted the terms of the trust, pointing out that if Ken had wanted a subsequent spouse to be included as a beneficiary of the trust, he would have included terms in the trust to cover that contingency. Similarly, the divorce decree did not modify the trust because it did not mention the trust. If Ken and Sue had meant for the divorce decree to modify the trust, they could have stated that in the decree. Finally, the misspellings in the deeds and Ken’s writings did not modify the trust. The appellate court also awarded the children fees and costs, increasing the amount Michele owed to the children.
Read the opinion here.
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