Patterson v. Patterson
Utah Supreme Court
266 P.3d 828 (Utah 2011)
Darlene Patterson's revocable trust let her amend or revoke it by written instrument delivered to the trustee, without stating this was the exclusive amendment method; she later amended the trust in writing to remove her son Ron (plaintiff) as a beneficiary, explaining she felt she had already provided for him during his lifetime, and died shortly after. Ron sued to invalidate the amendment based on prior Utah precedent (Banks v. Means) requiring strict compliance with a trust's amendment terms, and the district court granted him partial summary judgment; the trustee appealed.
Whether, under the Utah Uniform Trust Code, a settlor is required to comply with a trust's amendment requirements where those terms are not the trust's exclusive means of amendment.