Roenne v. Miller

At her death, Sonya Miller owned farmland, a house, royalty interests in mineral leases, and personal property. Her will left the farmland to Brad Miller (defendant), one of her five children. It directed that the remainder of her estate be placed in a testamentary trust benefiting all five children. The trust instrument named Brad as trustee and conferred uncontrolled discretion to distribute trust income and principal to any beneficiary, at any time, and in any amount as he deemed advisable. For 20 years, Brad used trust property to benefit the farmland left to him. He also paid himself all income from the mineral leases, depositing the funds straight into a personal account that he shared with his wife, Amy Miller (defendant). In his position as trustee, Brad eventually transferred the mineral rights from the trust to himself personally, effectively emptying the trust of any assets. Sonya’s four other children, including Denise Roenne (plaintiffs) sued Brad and Amy, alleging that Brad breached his fiduciary duties as trustee by converting the trust assets for the couple’s personal use. Brad countered that his actions were expressly permitted by the trust instrument, which gave him absolute discretion regarding disbursements. The district court held in Brad’s and Amy’s favor, holding that Brad’s absolute discretion prevented judicial interference with his decisions. The other children appealed to the Kansas Court of Appeals.