Gregge

I. BACKGROUND

William Hugill and his wife Janice executed an inter vivos trust in 1990, with William serving as trustee. Pursuant to the terms of that trust, two separate trusts were established when Janice died in 1996—the decedent’s irrevocable trust and the survivor’s amendable and revocable trust, both of which would terminate upon the death of the survivor. After disbursement of certain personal property, 30 percent of the remainder of the survivor’s trust would be distributed in equal shares to William’s four children, Patrick, Michael, Marjorie, and Holly. The other 70 percent would be set aside in a grandchildren’s trust for college educations, with the remainder of that subtrust to be divided among William’s children (30 percent) and grandchildren (70 percent) after the youngest grandchild turned 26. Michael was named as a successor trustee to Marjorie. In 1997, William amended the survivor’s trust, designating a fixed sum to fund the grandchildren’s trust. He reallocated the estate residue among his four children, reducing Michael’s share to five percent. (Thirty-five percent was to be disbursed to Holly who was disabled; and Patrick and Marjorie each would receive 30…