Montoya v. Ahern (In re W.N. Connell & Marjorie T. Connell Living Trust, Dated May 18, 1972)

By the Court, CHERRY, J.:

In this appeal, we consider a district court's order declining to enforce the no-contest clause of the W.N. Connell Living Trust, Dated May 18, 1972 (the 1972 Trust) against trustee-beneficiary respondent Eleanor Connell Hartman Ahem. The district court found that Eleanor violated her fiduciary duties as trustee of the 1972 Trust, but the court determined that her acts as trustee did not warrant imposition of the trust's no-contest clause to revoke her beneficiary status. The question before this court is whether a trust beneficiary forfeits interest in the trust's…