Hanson v. Denckla

Dora Donner, a Pennsylvania resident, created a trust in Delaware with a Delaware bank as trustee, then moved to Florida, where she died and her will was probated. Hanson (defendant), one of Donner's daughters and executrix of the will, was the primary beneficiary of the Delaware trust, while her sisters Denckla and Stewart (plaintiffs) split most of the probate estate and sought to have the Florida court exercise jurisdiction over the Delaware trust and trustee, which would divert the trust assets from Hanson. The Florida court assumed jurisdiction and enjoined the trust from paying out, and the Florida Supreme Court affirmed that Florida law governed the trust's validity. Meanwhile, Hanson separately sued in Delaware, where courts upheld the trust's validity and held the Florida judgment was not entitled to full faith and credit because Florida lacked jurisdiction over the trust res or the trustee. The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari.