Phillips v. Moore

THOMPSON, Justice.

Delmus Jerone Phillips created a trust in 1996 to hold real estate for his benefit and that of his family. Under the trust instrument, Phillips is entitled to receive the net income generated by the trust for the rest of his life. The trust instrument does not, on its face, give Phillips any right to the trust corpus during his lifetime. However, the trust does give Phillips a testamentary power of appointment which allows him to appoint the trust property to anyone he chooses, including his own personal estate or his creditors.

The trust instrument names specific…