Trustees Get to Decide Helmsely Trust Distribution

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi
Recent news reports indicate that a New York court has ruled that the trustees of the Leona Helmsley trust have sole authority to distribute trust assets. $1 million will go to dog related charities, the remaining $135 million to hospitals and medical research.

This article illustrates that courts can, and do, get involved with trusts. Often times clients want a trust, saying they want to keep the courts out of their business. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.

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