Baldwin v. Branch

Claude Baldwin, Jr. (Claude) created a revocable trust. The trust named Claude as the trustee, with all net income from the trust’s assets to be paid to Claude during his lifetime and Claude retaining the right to remove assets from the trust. The trust named O.W. Irwin as the successor trustee to take control upon Claude’s death and instructed Irwin to make certain distributions of trust property, including a distribution to Claude’s sister, Bernice Branch. Bernice died before Claude, but Claude did not amend the trust. Consequently, when Claude died, a dispute arose concerning the distribution of trust assets. In an action to determine the scope of Claude’s estate, Claude’s son, Claude Baldwin III (Baldwin) (plaintiff), argued that the distribution to be made to Bernice lapsed because Bernice predeceased Claude. Specifically, he argued that Alabama’s antilapse statute did not apply to revocable trusts and that the gift to Bernice was not vested before her death, and that, consequently, the relevant property should be included in Claude’s estate and pass per the terms of his will. Bernice’s two children, Miles Branch and Suzanne Ligon (defendants), argued that the gift to Bernice vested when the trust was created and did not lapse when Bernice died and, consequently, that the relevant property should pass to them via her estate. The trial court granted summary judgment in Branch’s and Ligon’s favor, and Baldwin appealed.