Doctrine of Unclean Hands Used to Prevent Adopted Ex-Husband from Receiving Interest in Trust

The following is a summary of In the Matter of Trust for Grandchildren of Wilbert L. and Genevieve W. Gore Dated April 14, 1972, CA. No. 1165-VCN, V.C. Noble (Del. Ch. Sept. 1, 2010) (Mem. Op.) provided by Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnel LLP as a client update:

A recent Delaware Court of Chancery opinion used the doctrine of unclean hands to bar a trust beneficiary from claiming a personal economic interest in a trust. The opinion was issued in response to a Petition for Construction filed by a co-trustee of the subject trust, who had adopted her ex-husband so that he would become a beneficiary of the trust.

Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnel LLP, Delaware Trusts, Estates & Tax Law Client Alert, Oct. 2010.

Special thanks to Susan N. Gary (Orlando J. and Marian H. Hollis Professor of Law, University of Oregon School of Law) for bringing this to my attention.