Walsh

Subject to one exception, Probate Code section 15403, subdivision (a) gives the probate court the authority to modify or terminate an irrevocable trust “if all beneficiaries . . . consent.” The exception to this general rule is found in subdivision (b), which provides that even if all beneficiaries consent, a court cannot modify or terminate a trust where “the continuance of the trust is necessary to carry out a material purpose of the trust” unless “the court, in its discretion, determines that the reason for doing so under the circumstances outweighs the interest in accomplishing a material purpose of the trust.” (§ 15403, subd. (b).)

In this appeal we must interpret and apply section 15403 to a charitable trust (the Trust) created by Laurence Moore (Moore) in 1993. In the Trust, Moore designated five beneficiaries: The Salvation Army, Guide Dogs for the Blind, Hospice of Petaluma, Boys and Girls Club of Petaluma, and Face to Face of Sonoma County. Among other powers, the Trust gave the trustees broad discretion in two areas: (1) the “discretion to determine the relative amounts or percentages” given to these beneficiaries of the Trust, “including the power to . . .…