In the Matter of the Baxter Family Trust

March 23, 2026 Dept. 9 Probate Tentative Rulings

3. 25PR0361 IN THE MATTER OF THE BAXTER FAMILY TRUST

This is a Petition to modify the terms of a Trust pursuant to the authority granted by Probate Code § 15409 based on unanticipated circumstances.

The Trust is being administered by a professional fiduciary, who submitted this Petition. The trustee was appointed by Court Order as part of a 2019 settlement agreement between four of the five named beneficiaries who fell into conflict while the surviving settlor was alive. The dispute included Trust assets and the conservatorship of the surviving settlor. Petition, Exhibit A.

Pursuant to the settlement agreement a share of the assets of the Trust were to be held in trust for the fifth beneficiary (“Beneficiary”) until the trustee felt that the Beneficiary “is living a productive and respectable life and lifestyle,” including achieving some “accomplishments” defined to include “education success, attainment of usable job skills, demonstrated ability to follow generally acceptable rules and standards of society, positive contribution to the community”, as well as a drug and alcohol free state as established by mandatory periodic testing.

The Trust funds were available to provide for the Beneficiary’s “health and welfare”, including the “cost of rehabilitation and programs to help with these type of situations.” If the Beneficiary could not achieve this state within five years of the death of the settlor the Beneficiary’s share would lapse and be distributed to the other beneficiaries of the Trust.

The Petition states that the Beneficiary has been diagnosed with multiple serious mental health conditions and has just been released from a locked facility. See Petition, Exhibit C. The Beneficiary has minimal social security income and is subject to a conservatorship. While he is drug and alcohol free, he is not able to meet the “accomplishments” requirements of the Trust. If his share of the Trust lapses and is distributed to the other beneficiaries, he will have no means of support. The trustee believes that the settlors intended to provide for his “health and welfare”, and did not anticipate that he would be subject to conservatorship and diagnosed with serious mental health conditions.

Accordingly, the Petition proposes alternate provisions for the Beneficiary’s special needs for the remainder of his life. Distributions would be at the trustee’s discretion to supplement but not supplant public benefits, to make the Beneficiary’s life comfortable and enjoyable, but without direct distributions to the Beneficiary or to reimburse the Beneficiary for any purchase he makes, and generally to make distributions for the Beneficiary’s health, safety and welfare. Upon his death any remainder would be allocated among the remaining beneficiaries of the Trust.