Succession of Noe

398 So. 2d 1173
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 27, 1981
Docket14530
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 398 So. 2d 1173 (Succession of Noe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Succession of Noe, 398 So. 2d 1173 (La. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

398 So.2d 1173 (1981)

SUCCESSION OF Anna Gray Sweeney NOE.

No. 14530.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

April 27, 1981.
Rehearing Denied June 4, 1981.

*1174 Cook, Yancey, King & Galloway by Clarence L. Yancey, Shreveport and Hodge & Skoog by Richard E. Hodge, Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiff-appellant, Linda Noe Laine.

Pugh & Pugh by Robert G. Pugh, Shreveport, for Co-Testamentary Executors of the Last Will and Testament of Anna Gray Sweeney Noe—appellees, James A. Noe, Jr. and Charles Thomas Munholland.

Blackwell, Chambliss, Hobbs & Henry by Douglas C. Caldwell, West Monroe, for defendant-appellee, James A. Noe, Jr., Individually and as Trustee of the Anna Gray Sweeney Noe Trust for Cristel McRae Noe Laine.

Snellings, Breard, Sartor, Inabentt & Thrasher by Ryan Sartor, Monroe, for the nonresident minor, Cristel McRae Noe Laine.

Before PRICE, HALL and MARVIN, JJ.

En Banc. Rehearing Denied June 4, 1981.

*1175 HALL, Judge.

In this proceeding the mother of the minor beneficiary of a testamentary trust established by the minor's grandmother seeks to remove the trustee named in the will and to have herself appointed as trustee. Originally, petitioner sought modification of the trust under LSA-R.S. 9:2026, alleging changes in circumstances since the will was executed by the decedent which would defeat the purposes of the trust if the trust was continued unchanged. After an exception of no cause of action was sustained, with the court ultimately granting leave to amend, petitioner amended to also seek removal of the trustee under LSA-R.S. 9:1789, alleging conflict of interest and hostility. Judgment was rendered sustaining exceptions of no cause of action and res judicata and petitioner appealed. We find the exception of no cause of action was properly sustained and affirm the dismissal of plaintiff's suit to remove the trustee.

The primary issue on appeal is whether plaintiff has stated a cause of action to modify the trust by removing the designated trustee and naming plaintiff as trustee. We hold that the allegations of fact contained in plaintiff's petition, as supplemented and amended several times, if proved, are not sufficient as a matter of law to justify the court in granting the relief sought.

Mrs. Noe died in 1972, leaving a will she executed in 1961. She bequeathed a 2/9 interest in her estate to each of her three children, petitioner Linda Noe Laine, James A. Noe, Jr. and Gay Noe McLendon. Petitioner's share was left in trust, with her sister and her sister's husband as trustees. The decedent bequeathed a 1/9 interest in her estate to each of her three sets of grandchildren to be held in trust for them. The parents of the grandchildren were named trustees of the respective trusts, except for the trust created for petitioner's daughter. Named trustees of this trust were James A. Noe, Jr. and Gay Noe McLendon.

Mr. Noe died several years after his wife, leaving a will disposing of his estate in a similar fashion. However, Mr. Noe had changed his will so that petitioner's inheritance was not left in trust and petitioner was named trustee of the trust created for her daughter by his will.

Both successions are still under administration, with James A. Noe, Jr. and C. T. Munholland as executors. The legatees have not been sent into possession and no property has been delivered to the trustees of the various trusts established by the Noes' wills. Consequently, there has been no administration of the trusts by the trustees.

Gay Noe McLendon filed an act declining to accept as trustee of petitioner's daughter's trust. At the time this proceeding was instituted, James A. Noe, Jr. had not accepted the trust; subsequently, he filed a formal act of acceptance. Petitioner makes no complaint about the delay in his filing of the acceptance or about the fact that the successions are still under administration.

The essential allegations of plaintiff's petition, as amended, are as follows:

(1) At the time of execution of the will and thereafter there was a complete lack of harmony and trust between the decedent and the husband of petitioner and for this reason, and not because of any belief by decedent that plaintiff was in any way incompetent to deal with and manage the inheritance of her daughter, the interest of the daughter was placed in trust with plaintiff's sister and brother as trustees thereof;
(2) Plaintiff has since divorced her husband and for years has lived alone without any contact whatever with him;
(3) Because the problem of distrust of plaintiff's husband no longer exists and plaintiff is thoroughly capable of managing the affairs of her daughter through the trust, there is no longer any reason why plaintiff should not be trustee of the trust. The trust should be modified under the provisions of LSA-R.S. 9:2026;
(4) The last will of plaintiff's father, written after the divorce of plaintiff from her husband and after the date of *1176 the will of Mrs. Noe, does not name plaintiff's brother and sister as the trustees of the trust for plaintiff's daughter; rather, said will names plaintiff as the trustee;
(5) The court has already held in this proceeding on the petition of plaintiff that the trust affecting her personal inheritance was null and void under Article 2026 because the reason for establishing the trust no longer existed; and the relief sought herein is merely a corollary to that holding;
(6) James A. Noe, Jr., individually and as co-executor, was named defendant and C. T. Munholland as co-executor was named defendant;
(7) The change in circumstances referred to herein, that is, the divorce by plaintiff from her husband and her living separate and apart from him without any communication from him for a number of years, took place following the execution by Mrs. Noe of her Last Will and Testament and she did not know and did not anticipate said events which completely removed any influence on plaintiff which her said husband have had over her;
(8) The important thing for the benefit of the estate of the minor is that a competent trustee and one in whom she has confidence be appointed. Plaintiff was made trustee of the minor's property inherited from plaintiff's father, James A. Noe, under the terms of his will and she should also be trustee of the property inherited by her minor daughter under the terms of the will of Mrs. Noe;
(9) James A. Noe, Jr. is disqualified as trustee and should be removed for the reason that hostility exists between him and the beneficiary. The minor lives with her mother, the plaintiff, at her home in San Francisco, California. James A. Noe, Jr. lives at his home in New Orleans. No fraternization exists between Noe and his said sister and niece. No visitation occurs back and forth. Dealings are at arms-length or through attorneys and the parties are utterly incompatible, whereas total compatibility exists between plaintiff and her daughter. In view of this atmosphere of distrust and incompatibility, it is impossible to have a satisfactory relationship of trustee and beneficiary. Further, plaintiff is named as trustee for her daughter under the will of the father. There can be no cooperation between her and James A. Noe, Jr. as trustee under the will of Mrs. Noe, thus making for a most difficult if not impossible climate for the administration of the trust established for the benefit of the minor daughter;

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Bluebook (online)
398 So. 2d 1173, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/succession-of-noe-lactapp-1981.