Johnson v. Greenelsh

Opinion

CORRIGAN, J.

Here we conclude that a challenge to a surviving spouse’s mental capacity to transfer trust assets and appoint a successor trustee did not violate the no contest clause in a family trust. A proceeding contesting a settlor’s mental competence to exercise rights under a trust does not amount to an attack on the trust itself, unless it seeks to thwart the estate plan established by the trust.

BACKGROUND

Spouses Walter and Florence Warren created the Warren Family Trust in 1993. Walter, Florence, and their children William Warren and Kathryn A. Greenelsh (Greenelsh) were named…