Surrogate Judge Rita Mella sitting in the Surrogates Court of New York County recently granted an application by co-trustees of a trust to terminate a trust. The trust was created pursuant to the decedent’s will. The purpose of the trust was to benefit a variety of individuals and charities. The trust called for the beneficiaries of the thrust to receive annual payments of income.
The will did not specifically deal with at what point the trust would terminate. The will merely stated the assets were to be held “in perpetuity” as long as there was income to make distributions on an annual basis.
The co-trustees of the trust brought an application to terminate the trust. They claimed that the expenses of maintaining the trust rendered its continuation impractical and economically unrealistic.
The court in it decision found the trust was no longer paying the income the decedent had requested in his will. The Court, in its decision stated “although the trust did not state when it would end, it also did not have a prohibition with regard to its early termination.” The termination of the trust was actually to the benefit to those individuals and charities receiving the income from the trust.
About The Author
Elliot S. Schlissel, Esq. is an attorney practicing law in the metropolitan New York area with more than 37 years of experience. Elliot and his associates represent individuals with regard to all types of wills, trusts and estate litigation.
