In Re the Trusteeship of the Trust of Williams

631 N.W.2d 398, 2001 Minn. App. LEXIS 801, 2001 WL 800003
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedJuly 9, 2001
DocketC4-00-2239
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 631 N.W.2d 398 (In Re the Trusteeship of the Trust of Williams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re the Trusteeship of the Trust of Williams, 631 N.W.2d 398, 2001 Minn. App. LEXIS 801, 2001 WL 800003 (Mich. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

OPINION

WILLIS, Judge

In this surcharge action, appellant professional trustee challenges the district court’s conclusion that, during the 1990-94 accounting period, trustees had a duty under Minn.Stat. § 501B.10 (1994) to diversify the assets of a trust. Appellant also contends that the district court abused its discretion by (1) calculating the surcharge from the beginning of the accounting period, (2) requiring appellant to reimburse to the trust all of its trustee fees for the accounting period, and (3) granting an award of attorney fees against appellant. Because the district court did not abuse its discretion in calculating the surcharge from the beginning of the accounting period, we affirm in part. But because the district court erred in (1) determining that Minn.Stat. § 501B.10 imposed a duty to diversify apart from the duty of prudent management imposed by that provision, (2) denying appellant all trustee fees for the accounting period without finding that those fees related to any improper actions by the trustee, and (3) granting attorney fees against appellant under an exception to the “American rule” that has not been recognized in Minnesota, we reverse in part and remand.

FACTS

In his 1949 last will and testament and a 1950 codicil thereto, James T. Williams, the founder of the Creamette Company, created a trust. At all relevant times, the professional trustee was, Northwestern National Bank of Minneapolis and its successors (Norwest). 1 From 1979 until 1997, the trustees were Robert H. Williams, son of James T. Williams and father of respondent Robert K. Williams; Margaret W. Linstroth, daughter of James T. Williams; and appellant Norwest. Article VII, section 13, of the trust instrument provides that

a majority of the Trustees shall have the right to decide upon the course to pursue in any given situation, and such decisions shall be binding upon all the Trustees.

Article IX of the trust instrument confers specific powers on the trustees, including the authority:

To retain as a part of my estate or of the trust estate any or all of the properties or securities transferred to or acquired by them hereunder, so long as they may deem it advisable, or expedient so to do.
To invest and reinvest any and all funds which may become available for investment in, or exchange trust assets for, any securities or properties as would be purchased by diligent and prudent individuals of discretion and intelligence in the management of their own affairs. *402 * * * jt is my wish and desire that the Trustees in making any and all investments and reinvestments hereunder be conservative and cautious and regard more the character, value, safety and security of the investments than the rate of interest and the amount of income and profits to be derived therefrom.

The Williams trust owned and operated Creamette from the death of James T. Williams in 1951 until 1979, when Cream-ette was acquired by Borden, Inc. At the time of the trust’s inception in 1951, its assets consisted almost exclusively of Creamette stock. As part of the acquisition by Borden, the trust’s Creamette stock was exchanged for Borden common stock. As of January 1, 1980, nearly 100% of the total market value of the trust was in Borden stock.

In 1980, the trustees began selling shares of Borden stock because of a perceived need to diversify trust assets. As of December 31, 1989, the trust owned 600,000 shares of Borden common stock of a value of $36,375 per share; that stock accounted for 39.3% of the total market value of the trust. At trustees’ meetings throughout the early 1990s, Robert H. Williams moved to sell large amounts of Borden stock. Norwest and Linstroth opposed these proposed sales. At several trustees’ meetings in 1990, Norwest recommended reducing the concentration of Borden stock to 25% by the end of 1992, but also recommended deferring sale of the stock until its price rose in value. 2 In 1991, Norwest made no motions to sell Borden shares or to approve a diversification plan. In May 1992, Norwest presented a new plan to sell 10,000 Borden shares per quarter but did not move for approval of this plan until December 1992, by which time the value of Borden stock had fallen to $28,125 per share. Williams voted in favor of this proposal, and the trust began making sales of Borden stock. Borden stock continued to lose value in 1993 and 1994; Norwest continued to discommend any sales in excess of the agreed-on 10,000 per quarter, arguing that the stock’s value might rise. In June 1994, Norwest recommended additional sales of Borden stock, and between July and September of that year, 225,000 shares were sold at prices ranging from $12.00 to $13,875 per share. Borden was acquired by Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts in March 1995, and the trustees disposed of the trust’s remaining Borden stock by exchanging it for RJR Nabisco stock. For purposes of this stock exchange, Borden common stock was valued at $14.25 per share.

In June 1996, Linstroth and Norwest petitioned the court- for approval of the trustees’ annual accounts for 1990 to 1995. 3 Williams objected to the petition, claiming that Norwest, as the professional trustee, was responsible for a significant loss in the value of the trust from the beginning of 1990 to the end of 1994 and should be surcharged for that loss. Norwest asserted that article VIII, section 12, of the trust instrument protected it from liability. That clause states:

*403 No Trustee shall be liable for the default or doing of any other Trustee, whether the act be one of misfeasance or nonfea-sance, nor shall he be held liable for any loss by reason of any mistake or errors of judgment made by him in good faith in the execution of his trust.

The district court dismissed the action against Norwest on the basis of this clause, finding that Norwest did not act with “malfeasance” and therefore was not liable. On appeal by Williams, this court reversed the dismissal, holding that the clause did not protect a professional trustee from liability for negligent acts and that a fact issue remained as to whether Nor-west had failed to meet the standard of care for a professional trustee. In re Trusteeship of Williams, 591 N.W.2d 743, 747-48 (Minn.App.1999).

On remand, the district court considered Williams’s surcharge claim. In an April 2000 order, the court concluded that the trustees had a duty to diversify the trust. The court also concluded that Norwest, as the professional trustee, had a duty to “educate or convince” the other trustees of the need to diversify the trust and that if Norwest was unable to do so, it had a duty “to seek instructions from the court concerning how to proceed. Failing that, it [had] an obligation to petition to withdraw.” The court concluded that by deferring and delaying sales of Borden stock, apparently in an effort to “time” the market, Norwest breached its duty to diversify the trust.

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Bluebook (online)
631 N.W.2d 398, 2001 Minn. App. LEXIS 801, 2001 WL 800003, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-trusteeship-of-the-trust-of-williams-minnctapp-2001.