Co-trustee Of A Joint Revocable Trust Had Authority To Make Deed Transferring Home To Himself Individually

Spouses created a joint revocable trust which contained terms which could be read to require them as co-trustees to act either in concert or separately. After the couple separated and one spouse withdrew several hundred thousand dollars from trust accounts and placed them in her own name, the other spouse deeded the family home to himself individually. Under the terms of the trust, the home was his “separate” property to which he was entitled while both spouses were alive.  After his death, litigation over the home ensued between the surviving spouse and his executor. The trial court held that the house was trust property. On appeal, in Matter of Estate of Hyde, No. CV-15-236, 2015 WL 6742198 (Ark. Ct. App. Nov. 4, 2015), the intermediate Arkansas appellate court reversed, holding that in the light of extrinsic evidence heard at trial, the co-trustees were authorized to act independently and that the deed was therefore valid.