In re the Trusts Under the Will of Crabtree

Summary

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that S.J.C. Rule 1:07 did not govern the appointment of a successor trustee who was specifically named in the petition. The court remanded the successor-trustee appointment for further consideration, while affirming orders requiring sworn statements of trustee services and appointing a guardian ad litem to represent potential charitable beneficiaries.

Holdings

1. S.J.C. Rule 1:07 does not apply to a trustee appointment prayed for by name in the petition. The probate judge therefore erred by rejecting Swift solely because he was not on the Rule 1:07 list and by appointing Potter from that list on that basis.
2. The probate judge had authority to require the trustees to submit sworn, itemized statements of time, expenses, compensation, and certification of the necessity and propriety of their services, even though Rule 1:07 did not govern their appointments.
3. The appointment of a guardian ad litem to represent potential charitable beneficiaries was proper because statutory and Probate Court rule provisions authorized the appointment where beneficiaries were unascertained or unrepresented and special circumstances existed.
4. Before appointing a guardian ad litem to review the activities of charitable-trust trustees in the future, the probate judge should inform the Attorney General of the intended appointment and reasons and provide a reasonable opportunity to object.

Questions Presented

1. Whether S.J.C. Rule 1:07 requires a Probate and Family Court judge to appoint a successor trustee from the court-maintained list when the trustees petition for appointment of a specific person by name.
2. Whether the probate judge had authority to require trustees to submit sworn, itemized statements of their services, time, expenses, and compensation.
3. Whether the probate judge properly appointed a guardian ad litem to represent potential, unborn, unascertained, or otherwise unrepresented charitable beneficiaries despite the Attorney General's opportunity to review and object to the accounts.

Disposition

vacated