by Anita Schnee, Attorney at Law
Here’s a question we got from a client a while ago:
After my brother died, he left money in a revocable trust for my children – but they could only get that money if they spent it on a trip to Tanzania to visit with the elephants. Why can’t my kids put that money toward something they could really use, like paying off their mortgages? The trustee says she has no choice, she has to follow my brother’s instructions.
The trustee is right. Once the person who created a revocable trust dies, the trust becomes “irrevocable,” unchangeable. The law says that as a general rule, the money was the brother’s, to do with as he saw fit. The trustee is duty-bound to follow his wishes, with only a few exceptions that wouldn’t apply in this case.
Some states, and Arkansas is one, permit beneficiaries like the children to go to court and try to get a provision like that changed. But they can only do this if all beneficiaries agree unanimously.
The children would also have to persuade the judge that what they want instead would be consistent with the most-important purpose the brother was trying to fulfill. That seems unlikely. The elephants evidently made a big impression on the brother, and his important purpose was to share that experience with the children.
