Johnson v. Smith

LEIBSON, Justice.

This case is a problem of appellate procedure generated in the aftermath of a declaratory judgment action. The question is whether the notices of appeal filed by the movants were filed prematurely and therefore defectively, and, if so, whether such defect renders their appeals a nullity.

John B. Johnson, II and Regina Johnson Britt, two of a number of beneficiaries of an inter vivos trust executed by John B. Johnson, now deceased, filed a declaratory judgment action in Jefferson Circuit Court, seeking cancellation or reformation of a clause in the trust instrument on grounds…