Smith v. Bank of Delaware

Carey, Justice:

The question presented by this appeal from the Court of Chancery is whether the living beneficiary of a spendthrift trust may, after having received the benefits for many years, renounce a portion of the future income.

The appellee, as trustee of an inter vivos trust created by Joshua A. Ellegood, filed a bill seeking instructions on the debated question. The Court below held the renunciation invalid on the unqualified ground that, since a beneficiary cannot accept part and disclaim part of a unitary gift at its inception, she may not thereafter reject part of the gift. See…