Trust did not prevent vesting in a beneficiary who died before trust distribution

A husband and his wife created revocable trusts terminating on the death of the second to die at which time both trusts terminate and are to be distributed equally to the couple’s three children. The trusts provided that if a child “is not living at the time” of the surviving parent’s death, that child’s share is to pass to his or her lineal descendants. The trusts also provide that the trustee shall distribute the trust assets after clearance letters are received from federal and state tax authorities and give spendthrift protection to the interests of beneficiaries other than the creators of the trusts. In Wilson v. Rhodes, 258 S.W.3d 873 (Mo. Ct. App. 2008), the court affirmed summary judgment for the estate of a child who died after the death of the second spouse to die but before distribution, holding that the language of the trust gave a child’s share to his or her lineal descendants only if the child did not survive the second parent to die.