IN RE THE CARL EDWIN OSBORNE, JR. LIVING TRUST, DATED MAY 19, 2020 - Articles

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IN RE THE CARL EDWIN OSBORNE, JR. LIVING TRUST, DATED MAY 19, 2020

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jun 2, 2026

Head Comment: USMAN concurring and dissenting

Court: TN Court of Appeals

Attorneys 1: Peter D. Baskind and Angela G. Lawson, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Marion Matsu Osborne, individually and as trustee of The Carl Edwin Osborne, Jr. Living Trust, Dated May 19, 2020.

Attorneys 2: Jonathan J. Ring, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellees, Leah Ann Kelley, Morgan Sinclair Osborne, Olivia Madison Osborne, and Mid-South Christian College.

Judge(s): MCGEE

The decedent left a will in which he directed the majority of his property into a trust. The trust named his wife as the trustee. The trust made several specific distributions to wife effective upon the decedent’s death, including the grant of life estate interests in certain assets. Several other beneficiaries were designated to receive distributions from the life estate assets upon wife’s death. The trust directed its remaining assets into a separate marital trust which provided that all income generated by its property would be distributed to wife. It also provided that the trustee would be required to distribute as much of the principal of the marital trust to wife as she requested in writing and granted her a power of appointment. Several of the remaining trust beneficiaries filed a petition to construe the trust in the Shelby County probate court. They sought an order declaring that the remainder interests of assets in which wife had been granted life estates did not pass into the marital trust. The probate court held that the remainder interests did not pass into the marital trust and wife could not alter or destroy them. Wife appeals. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

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