Fiduciary Litigation

Fiduciary Litigation

Fiduciary litigation is the process of dispute resolution by and among beneficiaries and fiduciaries concerning estate plans and the administration of estates and irrevocable trusts.

Attorneys

Peter S. Gordon

William M. Kelleher

Neil R. Lapinski

Norris P. Wright

Daniel F. Hayward

Kimberly Gill McKinnon

Phillip Giordano

Madeline Silverman

Blog Contributions

Fiduciary Fails to Adequately Provide Formal Accounting and Court Finds Her Liable for Nearly the Full Amount as a Result
Master Recommends that Exceptions to Estate Accounting be Sustained In Part and Overruled In Part
Delaware Court of Chancery Issues Ruling on Jurisdictional Provisions of Delaware’s Qualified Dispositions in Trust Act
Court of Chancery Stays Appointment of Personal Representative Pending Register of Wills Decision
Claim that Decedent Wanted to Renounce Her Will and Create a New One, but was Allegedly Prevented from Doing so, was Not a Will Challenge and thus was Not Subject to the Six-Month Limitation Period for Will Contests
Magistrate In Chancery Dismisses Claim Because, In Addition To Chancery Lacking Subject Matter Jurisdiction, The Co-Trustee Had No Standing To Bring The Action Pursuant To 10 Del. C. § 3701
Master Rejects Undue Influence and Fraud Claims Brought by a Decedent’s Nephew
Supreme Court Affirms Ademption Principle
Master Recommends Finding That Divorce Decree Incorporating a Settlement Agreement—In Which Agreement the Donee Agreed to Exercise His Power of Appointment to Benefit the Children of His First Marriage—Does Not Bind the Donee or the Trust
Master Rejects Contention that Land Transfers Resulted from Undue Influence
By Way Of A 149-Page Opinion Detailing All Sorts Of Malfeasance, The Delaware Court Of Chancery Removes Individual Trustee As A Result Of His Bad Faith And Breaches Of Fiduciary Duty And Also Orders Fee Shifting
Delaware Court of Chancery Removes Trustees of Trust Set up for the Benefit Sex Abuse Victim after the Trustees Spend the Majority of Trust Funds in Only Five Months
Master Concludes That Fees Should be Shifted Against Pro Se Petitioner After Petitioner’s Repeated Frivolous Filings and Disregard of Express Warnings to Cease Such Filings
In her Final Report, Master LeGrow Adopts the Ruling of her Draft Report that the Individual Co-Trustee Acted in Bad Faith Willful Misconduct, and thus Breached his Duties to the Beneficiaries
The Delaware Court of Chancery Recommends Removal of Personal Representative for Breaching Fiduciary Duties
Master Recommends Denial of Trust Company’s Interim Fee Motion
Court of Chancery Finds Settlement Agreement Clear on Key Terms and Rules Accordingly
Master Finds That Estate Accounting Fairly Valued Decedent’s Farming Business and That a Bank Account was a Convenience Account as Opposed to a Joint Account
Vice Chancellor Denies Motion for Default Judgment in Estate Case
Master Recommends Entry of Order Finding that the Trustee Waived Attorney-Client Privilege for Certain Communications
Master In Chancery Recommends Dismissal Of PR’s Petition On Grounds That It Is Time-Barred
Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets and Digital Accounts Act
Master In Chancery Concludes That Decedent Was Not Incompetent And Also Not Unduly Influenced In Signing New Will Shortly Before His Death
In her Final Report, Master LeGrow Adopts the Ruling of her Draft Report that the Beneficiaries of a Trust Cannot Pierce the Co-Trustee Spendthrift Provision of his Separate Trust
In Delaware Court Of Chancery Matter, Magistrate Concludes That Former Personal Representative Breached Her Duties, Resulting In A Relatively Small Amount Of Damages To The Estate
Even If Your Heart Is In the Right Place, a Will Can Still Be Invalidated Due To Your Undue Influence
In Will Dispute Involving Pro Se Parties, Master Finds Service Inadequate
Court of Chancery Interprets Trust Language
Delaware Supreme Court Decision Provides Choice of Law Analysis for Migration of Trusts to Delaware
Master Recommends Finding That Delaware Law Applies To One Life Insurance Policy Designation But That Pennsylvania Law—And Pennsylvania’s Revocation-Upon-Divorce Law—Applies To The Other Policy At Issue
In Reviewing Master’s Report, Vice Chancellor Appoints Counsel Ad Litem to Investigate and Advocate on Behalf of Incompetent
Master Finds that Doctrine of Laches Precludes Challenge to Prenuptial Agreement
Master Holds that Claims Against Corporate Co-Trustee are Time-Barred
Delaware Court Of Chancery Finds That Personal Representative Breached Fiduciary Duties And Reduces Personal Representative’s Commission By 50% And Orders Petitioner’s Attorney’s Fees To Be Paid From The Estate
Because Trust Wasn’t Injured by Alleged Failure to Clarify Easement Right of Real Property that the Trust did not own, the Master Recommends that the Trust’s Claims Related to that Easement be Dismissed
In Estate Case, Master Rules on Some Interesting Evidentiary Issues
Master Rules on Estate Accounting Challenge, Finds that Some but not all the Expenses are Allowable
Master Denies Summary Judgment as There Remained in Dispute Material Facts Relating to the Question of Whether an Implied or Resulting Trust Was Created
Vice Chancellor Affirms Master’s Decision To Name Supportive Care As Trustee Given That No Institutional Trustee Was Willing To Serve
Master in Chancery Finds That Second Wife of Decedent Did Not Unduly Influence Her Husband
Master in Chancery Finds that Decedent had Capacity and was not Unduly Influenced, however, that Executor Failed to File an Appropriate Inventory
Master Holds that Successor Trustee did not Breach her Fiduciary Duty, and that Challenging Beneficiary did not Trigger No-Contest Provision of Trust Agreement by Seeking to Ensure Proper Administration of the Trust
Court of Chancery Rejects Contention that Caregiving Equates to Fiduciary Duty
Delaware District Court Determines that an Accounting Cannot be a Freestanding Claim Under Delaware Law
Vice Chancellor Grants Motion to Dismiss Petition that Sought to Force a Trustee Change
Court of Chancery Finds Testatrix Competent to Make Will
Self-Dealing Executrix Breached Her Fiduciary Duties
Master Pro Hac Vice Disallows Bill for Limousine Hired Five Years After Burial
Among Other Rulings, Court of Chancery Opinion Speaks to Duties Owed to Presumptive Remainder Beneficiaries
Master in Chancery Decides Interesting Case Involving Long-lost Latvian Heir
Master Recommends that Lay Trustee be Ordered to Reimburse Trust after Hearing on Accounting
Court of Chancery Denies Beneficiary’s Petition to Modify Testamentary Trust and Holds that, Even if all Beneficiaries Agree to Modify, if the Modification Conflicts with the Testator’s Intent then the Testator’s Intent Controls
In Final Post-Trial Report, Magistrate In Chancery Concludes That Signature On Purported Will Was Not Genuine
Master Sings Ademption Song; Holds That Specifically Devised Property Sold During the Decedent’s Lifetime Reflects the Intention to Revoke that Devise
On the Basis of Lack of Standing and Untimeliness, Master Recommends Dismissal of Probate Challenge
Non-Prevailing Parties Fees to be Paid Out of Trust
In Estate Dispute Involving All Pro Se Parties, Master Recommends Dismissal of All Claims
Master in Chancery Finds That “Strong-Willed” Decedent Was Not Susceptible to Undue Influence During Nearly All of the Time-Period at Issue
Master Concludes That Section 3546 Doesn’t Bar Claim
Benefits of Both Spouses Being the Borrower on a Mortgage
Vice Chancellor Concludes That Beneficiary Adequately Stated Claims Alleging Trustee’s Failure to Convey Information And To Act
Master Grants Petitioners’ Motion for an Award of Attorneys’ Fees and Costs Following Rejection of Petitioners’ Challenge to Validity of Wills, Cites the Existence of Probable Cause and Exceptional Circumstances
Master Recommends that Individual Trustee be Suspended and Ordered to Return Assets to the Trust
Delaware District Court Strikes Down as Unconstitutional a Delaware Constitutional Amendment that Requires Each Delaware Court to be as Equally Balanced Between Democrats and Republicans as Possible
In the Context of Estate Matter, the Delaware Court of Chancery Acknowledges that it Lacks Jurisdiction to Decide Questions that Pertain to the “Support of Children”
Master in Chancery Concludes That “Unclean Hands” Is Not Applicable As The Conduct At Issue Did Not Directly Relate To Present Estate Litigation
Delaware is Not the Appropriate Forum to Resolve Beneficiaries’ Dispute Over Disposition of New Jersey Burial Plots
In Unusual Preemptive Action, Delaware Court Finds that Trustee Did Not Breach its Duty of Care, BUT the Court Also Finds That Trustee Itself (Not the Trust) is Responsible for Its Own Litigation Expenses and 50% of Expenses Incurred by GAL
Master Finds that Individual Trustee’s Poor Investments Were Not Made in Good Faith, Resulting in a $72 Million Judgment Against Him
Master in Chancery Denies Motion for Judgement on Pleadings Based on Alleged Laches in Presentation of Copy of Purported Will
Master Recommends the Removal of Executor
Delaware Supreme Court Remands Matter to Court of Chancery so that Vice Chancellor can Decide, on the Merits, Whether to Affirm Master’s Holding That Spendthrift Trust Cannot be Pierced
Master Concludes the Will Provision is Not Ambiguous
In the Context of a Capacity Challenge, the Court of Chancery Allows Discovery into the Trustor’s Communications with her Estate Planning Attorney Occurring Months Prior to the Execution at Issue
Court of Chancery Holds that 2015 Amendment to 12 Del C. § 3333 Does Not Overrule Riggs
Master in Chancery Recommends Dismissal After Concluding that Beneficiary’s Claims are Time-Barred
Court Of Chancery Finds In Favor Of Petitioner’s Motion For Judgment On The Pleadings Regarding Interpretation Of Trust Language
Master Finds that Will Was Not the Product of Undue Influence
Chancellor Denies Claim For Trust Reformation
Vice Chancellor Awards Approximately 94% of the Amounts Sought in the Co-Trustees’ Fee Applications
Master in Chancery Cites Discretionary Lenience in Granting Pro Se Litigant Leave to Amend
Master Recommends Denial of Preliminary Injunction Sought by Widow Challenging Pre-Nuptial Agreement
Court of Chancery Decides that Amount of Attorneys’ Fees Awarded in Lengthy Trust Dispute Should be in the Public Domain
After Applying Tennessee Law, Master Recommends That Delaware Courts Hear Certain Trust Claims But Dismiss A Claim To Require Immediate Distribution Of Trust Property
In a Case of First Impression, Vice Chancellor Dismisses Petition as Time-barred by Delaware’s Pre-Mortem Validation Statute
Chancellor Denies Motion To Remove Fiduciaries
After Finding That The Statute Of Limitations Had Run, Delaware Court Of Chancery Dismisses The Lion’s Share Of Plaintiff-Creditors’ Claims For Allegedly Fraudulent Transfers Against Self-Settled Delaware Asset Protection Trusts And Beneficiaries
Master Recommends Approval of Executor’s Petition Seeking Real Property Be Sold After Decedent’s Death and Rejects Objection to That Sale
Master LeGrow Reduces Fee Reimbursement to be Allowed to Petitioners After Their Unsuccessful Challenge to Validity of Decedent’s Last Will and Testament
Vice Chancellor adopts Master’s “well-reasoned report” finding that the Beneficiaries of a Trust Cannot Circumvent the Spendthrift Clause of the Co-defendant Trustee’s Own Separate Trust
Third Circuit Upholds Decision that an Accounting Cannot be a Freestanding Claim
A Personal Check Does Not Constitute a Completed Gift Until the Funds are Available to be Withdrawn and the Check is Presented and Paid
Vice Chancellor Adopts Master’s Decision to Deny Trusteeship to Doubly-Conflicted Successor Trustee
Based on the Operating Agreement at Issue, Court of Chancery Denies Plaintiff Co-Trustee’s Advancement and Indemnification Claim
Vice Chancellor Fully Adopts Factual And Legal Conclusions Reached By Master In Deciding Which State’s Law Applies To Insurance Policies
Master Provides Guidance on What Can be Used to Pay a Surviving Spouse’s Elective Share Claim
Vice Chancellor Finds Slayer Statute Not Applicable
Master Holds that a Donee of a Testamentary Limited Power of Appointment May Not Remove the Appointee's Standing by Contracting to Exercise that Power During Her Life
Delaware Supreme Court Partially Reverses Chancery Ruling on Estate Administration and Priority
Court Approves Receiver’s Report Requiring Former Trustee to Pay Trust Over $1 Million
The Delaware Family Court Vacates a 1995 Adult Adoption in Order to Allow the Parties to Enter into a Civil Union
After Applying Melson Metric, Master Denies Undue Influence Claim as Final Wishes Consistent with Late Life Intentions of Decedent
In the Context of Fiduciary Duty Action Brought Against Trustees for Mismanagement, Master LeGrow Issues Draft Report Refusing to Pierce the Spendthrift Clause in a Separate Trust Created for the Benefit of the Defendant Individual Trustee
Chancellor McCormick Denies Motion To Dismiss Claims Seeking Reformation Of A Trust, But Dismisses Remaining Claims
Delaware Supreme Court Affirms Trial Court’s Ruling Dismissing Petition as Untimely-Filed Based on Notice Given Under Delaware’s Pre-Mortem Validation Statute
Master Recommends Will be Set Aside Due to Undue Influence
Court of Chancery Denies Motion to Stay First-Filed Delaware Trust Action in Favor of Later-Filed Florida Estate and Trust Action Which Encompasses Many of the Same Issues as the Delaware Action
Delaware Supreme Court Affirms Court of Chancery’s Protection of Delaware Spendthrift Trust
Master Recommends Against Removal of Executor
Master in Chancery Finds That as Long as There is a Will Contest in Texas, the Delaware Trustee May Not Distribute the Assets
Master in Chancery Denies Executrix’s Motion for Summary Judgment in Action Contesting Will
Master Holds that Merely Being Old and Allegedly Suffering from Various Medical Conditions is Not Sufficient to State Claims of Lack of Capacity and Undue Influence
In Estate Case, Vice Chancellor Overrules Exceptions To Master’s Order But Denies Request To Fee Shift
Master Refuses to Invalidate Will Even Though No Coherent, Definitive Explanation for Claimed Familial Falling Out Was Offered to Explain Intent
Court of Chancery finds that Settlement Agreement in estate dispute represents “a binding agreement to agree”
Master Recommends That Court Recognize Resulting Trust Instead Of Jointly Titled Bank Account
Because the Parties had Reached an Agreement on all the "Essential Terms", Master in Chancery Zurn Grants Motion to Enforce Settlement Agreement Reached in an Estate Dispute
Master Recommends Award of Plaintiff’s Partial Attorneys’ Fees in Estate Case
Master in Chancery Recommends Removal of Trustee Due to Hostility
Court of Chancery Concludes that Decedent’s Second Ex-wife Improperly Steered Decedent’s Assets to Her
When Party Lacked Standing to Prosecute Exceptions and Engaged in Frivolous Litigation Against the Estate, the Court of Chancery Orders that the Frivolous Litigator Pay the Estate’s Fees in Defending the Exceptions
In Trust Litigation Matter, Chancellor Denies Request Aimed at Third Party Documents and Testimony
Master Surcharges Former Trustee for Over $31,000 in Legal Fees and Costs but Dismisses All Other Exceptions
Magistrate Stays Some Exceptions To An Estate Inventory But Overrules Others
Master Adopts Draft Report on Issues Regarding Standing, Exercising Testamentary Powers of Appointment, and Insane Delusions and Clarifies the Mootness Doctrine with regard to Capacity Challenges
Vice Chancellor Removes Estate Administrator for Failing to Perform His Duties
Master Recommends Dismissal of Surviving Husband’s Elective Share Petition on the Basis of Untimeliness
Court of Chancery Finds Child Support Claim Against Estate to be Time-Barred as the Time to File Started Running at Conception as Opposed to Birth
Master Wants More Facts Determined Before Ruling on the Legality of Late Husband’s Change to His Life Insurance Beneficiary Form and Whether He Lacked Mental Capacity When He Made that Change and When He Executed His Will
Master Recommends that Decedent’s Mother be Dismissed as a Petitioner as She Was Only a Contingent Beneficiary in the Case of Intestacy
In Estate Case, Executrix Failed to Properly Account for Profits on Estate’s Property, Leading Master-in-Chancery to Conclude that Executrix Breached Her Fiduciary Duties
Vice Chancellor Parsons Adopts Master LeGrow's Final Report, which held that as Long as There is a Will Contest in Texas, the Delaware Trustee May Not Distribute the Assets of the Trust
Magistrate in Chancery Holds that Estate Exceptions Need Not be Limited to Monetary Claims
Delaware Court of Chancery Finds that Real Property Deeds Need not Include the Phrase “and not as Tenants in Common” to Create a Joint Tenancies as Long as the Intent to Create a Joint Tenancy is Unambiguous
Master Refers to Mediation a Family Squabble Over Trust with Alleged Scrivener's Error
Court of Chancery Denies Request to Probate Copy of Will
No Exception to Black Letter Law on Forming and Contesting a Will
Master in Chancery, After Applying the Riggs National Bank Case, Refuses to Compel Co-trustee Bank to Produce Certain Documents
Master Denies Motion to Dismiss Counts Relating to Alleged Breaches by Decedent’s Attorney-In-Fact
Master in Chancery Recommends Finding that: (1) as a Power of Attorney Generally Becomes Effective When Signed, the Accounting Period at Issue Should Begin as of the Signing, and (2) that an Unrevoked Gift Cannot be Waived.
Third Circuit Affirms Delaware District Court’s Rejection of Fiduciary Breach Claims
Court of Chancery Rejects Claims to Recover Gifts Given by Now-Deceased Elderly Widower to Much Younger Girlfriend, with the Exception of One Gift that Resulted from Fraud
In estate-related case, Magistrate in Chancery decides who owns a 1937 Ford Coupe
Master Adopts Draft Report on Issue of Partly Missing Will, Explains Burden Shifting When Page of a Will is Lost or Missing
Citing Clear and Unambiguous Terms, Master Rules Against Next of Kin In Favor of Intestate Beneficiaries
For Reasons of Efficiency and Otherwise, Master in Chancery Recommends Allowing Amendment to Petition in Estate Case Despite the Resulting Expansion of Case Scope