Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Let�s say a surviving spouse of AB Trust exhausted his assets in the Marital Trust, save for his home where he was living. His petition to court to allow for invasion of principal in the Residuary Trust without the requirement of selling his home, is approved. The money is used only for his care, and he dies shortly thereafter. The deceased couple had 2 children, a son and a daughter. Both children are 50/50 beneficiaries of the Residuary Trust however the son is the sole beneficiary of the Marital trust, (he took care of the surviving parent until death). At the time of death, the marital trust�s only asset was the home. Will the home have to be sold in order to �payback� the Residuary trust? The only wording in the AB trust is �should surviving trustor be in need of additional funds for proper health, maintenance, his support or his accustomed standard of living and the Marital trust is exhausted or otherwise not reasonably available for distribution, then the trustee shall in its discretion pay or apply for the benefit of the surviving trustor such amounts from the principal of the residuary trust, up to the whole thereof.� I would think unless the daughter contests, there would be no �payback� I cannot find any case law nor trust law regarding this. Can anyone provide for me?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Did the court order approving distributions from the residuary trust say anything regarding your question?
Since the distribution from the Residuary Trust was was authorized by the document (esp as approved by the court) I don't think there would be any reimbursement to the Marital Trust, unless, as stated above, the court order addressed the issue.
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