Diaz

BACKGROUND

A settlor purports to amend his revokable trust. He is both the trustor and trustee. The trust document (the Trust) provides that to amend the Trust he must send the document by certified mail to the trustee. This he did not do. Here we decide his purported amendment did not conform to the trust terms and is invalid. The Trust became irrevocable upon the death of the settlor, Mateo Diaz (Mateo), on May 6, 2018. Soon after Mateo’s death, a purported trust amendment dated in 2007 was found in an envelope among papers in a container kept in Mateo’s bedroom closet. The stamped envelope was addressed to his attorney. There is no evidence in the record to indicate Mateo discussed the 2007 document with anyone or that he mailed it to his lawyer. Article X of the Trust governs trust amendments. It states in relevant part: “The Trustor may at any time during Trustor’s lifetime amend any of the terms of this instrument by an instrument in writing signed by the Trustor and delivered by certified mail to the Trustee.” Article IX of the Trust governs revocations and states in relevant part that “[t]his Trust may be revoked in whole or in part by the Trustor during Trustor’s…