Rachins v. Minassian
Florida District Court of Appeal
251 So. 3d 919 (2018)
- Written by Liz Nakamura, JD
Facts
Zaven Minassian, decedent, established a trust under which his wife, Paula Minassian (defendant), was the sole trustee and lifetime beneficiary. The trust stated that Paula could distribute trust income and principal to herself for her health, education, and maintenance in her sole discretion. After Paula’s death, all remaining trust assets would pass to Zaven’s children, Rebecca Rachins and Richard Minassian (the children) (plaintiffs), in trust shares. Paula, as permitted by the trust instrument, subsequently appointed a trust protector who validly amended the terms of the trust to clarify that, upon Paula’s death, the existing trust would terminate, and the remaining trust corpus would be transferred to a new trust for the benefit of the children. The children then challenged Paula’s administration of the trust, arguing that she was dissipating trust assets to support her gambling addiction. Paula countered, arguing that the children were not beneficiaries of the trust and therefore lacked standing to challenge her administration of its assets. The trial court dismissed the children’s action for lack of standing. The children appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Taylor, J.)
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