Ludwig v. AmSouth Bank of Florida
Florida District Court of Appeal
686 So. 2d 1373 (1997)
- Written by Liz Nakamura, JD
Facts
Adrain and Grace Fisher’s Fisher Trust II included a sub-trust for Adrain’s property, Trust A. Trust A provided a life interest to Adrain’s grandsons, Robert Ludwig and John Ludwig (defendant), after which Robert and John’s descendants would receive trust distributions. Trust A did not contain a set termination date; however, it had a savings clause that dictated Trust A must be terminated, and the trust corpus distributed, as of the date dictated by the rule against perpetuities if the trust would otherwise violate the rule against perpetuities. Adrain died in 1976, rendering Trust A irrevocable. Robert died in 1993 without issue. Following Robert’s death, the trustee, AmSouth Bank (defendant), filed a petition for instructions about how the trust assets should be distributed. Evelyn Ludwig (plaintiff), Robert’s wife, argued that Trust A violated the rule against perpetuities and therefore should have been voided upon Adrain’s death, with the corpus distributed to Robert and John. John countered, arguing that Trust A was still valid because of the savings clause. The trial court held Trust A was still valid because John, the measuring life, was still alive. Evelyn appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
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