Trust No-Contest Provisions – Hunter v. HunterTrust No-Contest Provisions – Hunter v. HunterTrust No-Contest Provisions – Hunter v. Hunter

Hunter v. Hunter (March 12, 2020) In a beneficiary’s action seeking declaratory interpretation of two trust instrument provisions, the circuit court erred in granting the defendant trustee’s motion for summary judgment on her counterclaim on the basis that the plaintiff’s declaratory judgment action had violated the no-contest provision of the trust, concluding that his interest in the trust was revoked. The declaratory judgment action did not trigger the no-contest provision requiring the forfeiture of the plaintiff beneficiary’s interest in the trust. The summary judgment dismissing his declaratory action with prejudice is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings.