Thorpe

Plaintiff Thomas Thorpe succeeded the public guardian as temporary trustee of a special needs trust. The trust specified that a successor trustee was not entitled to compensation. Plaintiff served for four and one-half months and billed the estate $108,771.07 for trustee and trustee attorney fees. On his petition, the trial court awarded him $51,285.63 over objection that the trust instrument prohibited compensation. Defendants Audelith Jenivee Reed (the trustee) and Danny Reed (the beneficiary) appeal from the order and reiterate their objection. We agree with defendants. We therefore reverse the order and direct the trial court to deny plaintiff’s petition.

BACKGROUND

Danny was 21 years old in 1996 when he attended the Burning Man festival in Nevada. 2 He was asleep in his tent when a drunken driver drove through the tent and caused him permanent brain damage and orthopedic injury. The probate department of the Santa Clara County Superior Court (probate court) appointed his mother, Maine Allen, as his conservator in 1997. Maine filed a personal injury suit on Danny’s behalf for the Burning Man accident. In 1999, Danny was again injured by a car—this time in a…