Wood v. U.S. Bank, N.A.

John Wood's trust, benefiting his wife Dana Barth Wood (plaintiff), held 82% Firstar (defendant) stock at his death, and the trust's boilerplate language allowed the trustee to 'retain any securities in the same form as when received.' After Firstar's stock climbed to $35 per share, Dana Barth informally asked Firstar to diversify, but it didn't; by mid-2000 the price had dropped to $16, costing her $771,099. She sued for breach of the statutory duty to diversify; the trial court instructed the jury only on an abuse-of-discretion standard requiring dishonesty or bad faith, and — with no such evidence presented — the jury found for Firstar.

Whether, where a trust does not contain specific language authorizing the trustee to retain more stock than would be prudent, the duty to diversify under Ohio's Uniform Prudent Investor Act applies absent special circumstances.