Blumberg

FACTS

The Minthorne Family Living Trust (the trust) was signed by spouses Gloria and Ralph Minthorne on February 19, 2008, soon after Ralph suffered a stroke. Both had previous estate plans, written in 2007. They had been married since 2006, when Ralph was 75 and Gloria was 61. With respect to the trust, Gloria and Ralph were both settlors; Gloria alone was named as trustee. The parties both had assets and adult children from prior marriages. Adam was one of Ralph’s grandchildren. The property in the trust included an apartment building, originally owned by Ralph, and two single-family homes (the Starshine property and the Pleasant Avenue property, respectively), previously owned by Gloria. All of these properties went into the trust. The trust included two clauses regarding the division and distribution of the trust property after Gloria or Ralph’s death. The first clause, section 4, stated, among

1Because of the possibility of confusion arising from common surnames, we use first names where appropriate. No disrespect is intended.

2 other provisions, that after the death of the deceased settlor, the trustee was to allocate the entire trust estate to a survivor’s trust, and…