COURT APPROVAL NEEDED FOR BENEFICIARIES TO REMOVE TRUSTEES

• Thursday, May 31, 2018
• Category: Estate Planning and Estate Administration

A trust cannot be amended by its beneficiaries to allow for the removal and replacement of a trustee without judicial approval, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled.

In a unanimous July 19 decision in Trust Under Agreement of Edward Winslow Taylor, the justices found that a section of the Uniform Trust Act dealing with the modification of a trust does not allow changes that open the door to a trustee’s removal, which is governed by a separate section of the act.

“The legislative intent with respect to the interplay between Sections 7740.1 and 7766 is clear – the scope of permissible amendments under Section 7740.1 does not extend to modifications to add a portability clause permitting beneficiaries to remove and replace a trustee at their discretion; instead, removal and replacement of a trustee is to be governed exclusively by Section 7766,” Justice Christine L. Donohue wrote for the court.

Reference: Trust Under Agreement of Edward Winslow Taylor, PICS No. 17-1176, (July 19, 2017) en Seal, Pennsylvania Law Weekly, Tuesday, August 1, 2017

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