Husband May Transfer Inherited Trust Into New Trust

In Brown v. Miller, (Fl. Dist. Ct. App., Nos. 5D07-1288, 5D07-1356, Oct. 17, 2008), a Florida Court of Appeals ruled that a husband who is the trustee of his wife’s trust and beneficiary of her estate, may transfer his interests into another trust with him as beneficiary. Even though the district court thought that the language of the trust prevented this, the court of appeals held:

Mr. Miller’s wife “clearly intended to permit transfers to an entity, such as an irrevocable trust, over which her husband retained complete control and the right to absolute ownership.” The court finds that the phrase “from time to time” allows a trustee to make lump-sum distributions of the entire trust principal, since it would be an “illogical result” to allow a trustee to transfer all but $10 out of the trust in order to meet the exact wording of the trust provision.

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