JOHN E. SULLIVAN, JR. GST EXEMPT TRUST ET AL. v. FRANK G. SULLIVAN ET AL. - Articles

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JOHN E. SULLIVAN, JR. GST EXEMPT TRUST ET AL. v. FRANK G. SULLIVAN ET AL.

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Dec 26, 2024

Court: TN Court of Appeals

Attorneys 1: David M. Sullivan and Richard Glassman, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, John E. Sullivan, Jr. GST Exempt Trust, David M. Sullivan, Trustee.

Attorneys 2: Jana Davis Lamanna, J. Mark Griffee, and Stanley N. Medlin, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellees, John Sullivan, III, and Frank G. Sullivan.

Judge(s): USMAN

Testator created a generation-skipping trust and instructed the eventual trustee to distribute all remaining trust funds to the “then living descendants of the child per stirpes” upon the death of Testator’s child. Testator’s child later died, leaving two generations of descendants. Each first-generation descendant is the parent of a corresponding second- generation descendant, and neither predeceased the Testator’s child. Trustee brought a declaratory judgment action, seeking to ascertain whether only the first generation of the child’s descendants should inherit trust funds or if, instead, members of both generations should take equally. Relying on Testator’s choice of a per stirpes distribution system, the probate court concluded that trust funds should be split equally between the first-generation descendants, reasoning that the funds do not go any further under a traditional per stirpes framework. We affirm.

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