Estate of Goulet

Gross, Gross & Simon, Marvin Gross, Mitchell, Silbeberg & Knupp, Allan B. Cutrow, John L. Segal and Linda J. Byrne for Claimant and Respondent.

OPINION

WERDEGAR, J.

Has a trustee the right to appeal an order determining that a trust beneficiary's proposed claim would not violate the trust's no contest clause? For the following reasons, we conclude the trustee does. Accordingly, we reverse the Court of Appeal, which held to the contrary.

On August 23, 1992, Donald R. Scott Goulet (Goulet) and Esther Montello (Montello), acquaintances for many years, married in Las Vegas, Nevada. They separated the next day. At the time, Goulet was terminally ill with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

The same day as the marriage, Goulet and Montello executed a document entitled "Premarital Agreement." The agreement provided, among other things, that the parties had separate property interests in premarital and postmarital assets and acquisitions. In addenda to the agreement executed the same day, Goulet promised to pay Montello $2,500 per month until she reached age 75, subject to cost-of-living increases. He also promised to buy her a home worth at least $500,000, lease her a new…

Has a trustee the right to appeal an order determining that a trust beneficiary’s proposed claim would not violate the trust’s no *1077 contest clause? For the following reasons, we conclude the trustee does. Accordingly, we reverse the Court of Appeal, which held to the contrary.

Background. 1

On August 23, 1992, Donald R. Scott Goulet (Goulet) and Esther Montello (Montello), acquaintances for many years, married in Las Vegas, Nevada. They separated the next day. At the time, Goulet was terminally ill with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

The same day as the marriage, Goulet and Montello executed a document entitled “Premarital Agreement.” The agreement provided, among other things, that the parties had separate property interests in premarital and postmarital assets and acquisitions. In addenda to the agreement executed the same day, Goulet promised to pay Montello $2,500 per month until she reached age 75, subject to cost-of-living increases. He also promised to buy her a home worth at least $500,000, lease her a new automobile, pay her and her children’s health and life insurance premiums, and pay her living expenses until the home was purchased.

Six weeks…

It has long been settled, not only in California but elsewhere, that a fiduciary (such as the trustee of a trust or the personal representative of a decedent’s estate) administering property on behalf of multiple beneficiaries must act impartially towards all the beneficiaries and must not favor, or expend funds litigating, the interest of one beneficiary over another. The fiduciary may not take sides when a dispute arises as to the relative rights and interests of various beneficiaries, and may not work to advance or oppose the claim of any beneficiary.

For that reason, it has also long been held that, once a court has determined the shares to which various beneficiaries are entitled, a fiduciary has *1087 no standing to appeal that decision. Appeals are limited to the aggrieved, and a fiduciary, being indifferent to which beneficiary prevails in the dispute, is not aggrieved by the court’s resolution of the dispute. It is those beneficiaries whose own interests are adversely affected by the court’s decision who are aggrieved and who may appeal. Accordingly, this court has previously held that an executor may not appeal an order determining whether a beneficiary’s actions are a…