Matter of Piel
Court of Appeals of New York
884 N.E.2d 1040 (2008)
Florence Woodward's 1926 and 1963 irrevocable trusts gave her daughter Barbara Piel a lifetime benefit, with the remaining principal to be distributed as a class gift to Piel's descendants after her death, without naming any specific descendants. Before marrying, Piel had given birth to a daughter, Elizabeth McNabb (plaintiff), whom she placed for adoption, and it was unclear whether Woodward ever knew of McNabb's birth or adoption; after marrying, Piel had two more daughters, Stobie and Lila (defendants). When Piel died in 2003 with the trust valued around $9.7 million, trustee Fleet Bank (defendant) began settlement proceedings naming only Stobie and Lila as potential beneficiaries, and McNabb intervened with her own children (plaintiffs) to claim a share; the Surrogate's Court dismissed her claim, the appellate court reversed, and Fleet, Stobie, and Lila appealed.
Whether, where irrevocable trusts created in 1926 and 1963 provide distributions to the grantor's grandchildren, a biological grandchild who was adopted out of the family has a right to share in that distribution.