Witherspoon v. Wernicke

This appeal turns on a single issue: Can one of several cotrustors unilaterally revoke a trust which is made presumptively revocable by statute as to the portion of the corpus he contributed? As we explain, current California law says “no.” Because the trial court found to the contrary, we reverse the judgment.

Facts

The relevant history began in 1976 when Genevieve Wernicke died and left the residue of her estate to United California Bank (Bank) as trustee. The testamentary trust provided that the income was to be paid equally to Genevieve’s son, Otto Heinrich Louis Wernicke, and to her daughter-in-law, Celeste Wernicke, during their joint lives, and then to the survivor. Upon the death of the survivor, the trust was to be distributed equally to Celeste’s children (Genevieve’s grandchildren) Cedric, Christopher, and Brian Wernicke.

Because the beneficiaries were unhappy with the Bank’s performance as trustee, they petitioned the court for possession of the assets. Although the court denied this petition, the court suggested to the Bank that it voluntarily terminate the trust, which the Bank did. Consequently, in 1982 the Bank distributed the assets, which were then…