• Blog Post

    Breach of Trustees’ Fiduciary Duty – Part 2: Duty of Loyalty & Duty of Impartiality

              As we’ve mentioned in part 1 of this series, trustees are fiduciaries and, as such, trustees owe a variety of fiduciary duties to multiple parties.  These obligations include both the duty of loyalty and duty of impartiality, which we will discuss this week.  To prove a trustee breached of one of these duties, one must show three things: (1) the existence of a fiduciary relationship; (2) the breach of a fiduciary duty; and (3) damages proximately caused by the breach of the duty.[1]             It is important to keep in mind that the express terms of the trust can modify…

  • Blog Post

    Terminating a Trust when its Goals are Impossible to Achieve

              Trusts can be terminated in a variety of ways.  Trusts may be terminated because, over time, the goals of the trust become impossible to achieve.  Last month, the Michigan Court of Appeals heard a case, Trupp v. Naughton, presenting such a scenario.[1]  The case was based a trust created for three of the settlor’s children: Donna, Brian, and Deborah.  The trust contained a lakefront house and directed the adult children to work out a yearly schedule for using the house and paying the maintenance costs.  Pursuant to the terms of the trust, the beneficiaries were allowed to terminate the trust and sell the lake house…