Recent Cases Of Interest To Fiduciaries - March 2013

In the most recent installment of the McGuireWoods Fiduciary Advisory Services annual multipart series on recent fiduciary cases, developments in the law concerning various topics are examined through the following:

DeRouen v. Bryan , 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 8635 (Tex. App. 2012) Trustee not held liable for distributions misappropriated by beneficiary's spouse.

Milton H. Greene Archives, Inc. v. Marilyn Monroe LLC , 692 F.3d 983 (9th Cir. 2012) In Marilyn Monroe LLC, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the beneficiaries of Marilyn Monroe's estate did not inherit a posthumous right of publicity because Marilyn was domiciled in New York at the time of her death and New York law does not recognize such a right.

In re Stewart , 2012 Ariz. App. LEXIS 158 (Ariz. App. 2012) An Arizona appellate court upheld the validity of in terrorem clauses in the decedent's estate plan documents.

Miami Children's Hospital Foundation v. Miami Care Foundation , 2012 Fla. App. LEXIS 17440 (Fla. 2012) Trust amendment was not ambiguous as to the testator's intent to benefit the Miami Children's Hospital Foundation.

In re: Estate of Martelli , 2012 Phila. Ct. Comm. Pl. LEXIS 318 (Pa. 2012) Court removed co-fiduciaries where hostility among the co-fiduciaries resulted in mismanagement of the trusts and estate.

Church of the Little Flower v. US Bank...