The New Hampshire Trust Council has filed its first friend of the court (amicus) brief in the New Hampshire Supreme Court, in the matter of Hodges, et al. v. Johnson, et al., Docket No. 2016-0130. Prepared by Todd Mayo and Glenn Perlow of Perspecta Trust, the brief seeks reversal of a ruling by the 7th Circuit Court, Probate Division that voided a series of decantings of an irrevocable trust established in 2004.
Three beneficiaries, whose beneficial interests were extinguished as a result of the decantings, complained that the Trustees had failed to duly consider those interests when exercising discretionary powers under the trust to undertake the decantings. Following a trial, the Probate Court agreed. On reviewing the final order, the Trust Council felt that the Trustees had been held to an incorrect standard. It filed the amicus brief in support of the Trustees’ appeal, in order to ensure that “the New Hampshire Trust Code’s provisions are interpreted and applied by the courts accurately and consistent with well-established precedent and the intent of the legislature.”
The amicus brief can be read in its entirety here.