“Any” supports construction of special power of appointment as exclusive

A mother’s will created trusts for her daughters and gave each daughter a testamentary special power of appointment, directing the trustee to distribute “any amount” of the principal and undistributed income to any of the testatrix’s descendants “and” any charitable organization.  The first daughter to die exercised her power of appointment entirely in favor of charity. 

The surviving sister filed a claim for one-half of the trust property alleging that her sister violated the terms of the power of appointment by appointing all the trust property to charity.  The court affirmed the dismissal of the claim, holding that the testatrix’s use of the word “any” indicated her intent to create an exclusive power of appointment.  In re Estate of Hope, No. 06CA2003, 2007 WL 4336228 (Colo. Ct. App. Dec. 13, 2007).