In re Payson

T.D. Bank, N.A. (bank), as successor trustee of a testamentary trust, created by the will of Elizabeth S. Payson (testatrix), sought instructions in the Probate and Family Court as to the proper final distribution of the principal of the trust. In the bank's view, the use of the terms "children" and "issue" created an ambiguity in the trust instrument. Five people filed objections to the petition -- the four living grandchildren of the testatrix, and, also, one of her seven great-grandchildren.

The judge concluded that the terms were not ambiguous and that the principal of the trust should be…