Esslinger

— The trustees of an inter vivas trust appeal from an order determining that the plaintiff beneficiary had not violated the trust’s “no contest” clause by filing the underlying petition. Because we hold the trustees do not have standing to appeal the order, we dismiss the appeal.

I

Paul and Marie Esslinger established an inter vivas trust in 1976 known as the Esslinger Family Trust. When Paul died in 1982, the trust corpus was divided into trust A, a revocable trust containing Marie’s share of the trust property, and trust B, an irrevocable trust containing the balance of the estate.

In 1983, Marie amended trust A. Among the provisions added was a “no contest” clause providing that any beneficiary who contests any provision of the trust forfeits the income and corpus of the trust. Marie died in 1990, and the trusts were thereupon divided into two separate trusts for Marilyn Smith and Paul R. Esslinger, the Esslingers’ two children.

Problems arose concerning management of the trusts’ assets. In October 1991, Marilyn filed a petition in the probate court for accounting and other remedies alleging that the trustees (three of Paul R.’s four children) had committed acts in…