Lewis v. Gaillard

Summary

The Florida Supreme Court held that heirs who unsuccessfully sought to terminate a testamentary trust were not entitled to recover their attorney fees from the trust estate. Although the litigation incidentally clarified the trust's status and beneficiary, the heirs' interests were adverse to the trustee and cestui que trust, so only taxable costs could be allowed.

Holdings

1. Counsel fees may be paid from a fund when counsel successfully obtains or creates the fund for the joint benefit of the parties, but when the litigants' interests are adverse, only taxable costs may be allowed. Because the Gaillards' litigation sought to destroy the trust and recover the entire corpus for themselves, and they failed to establish any entitlement to it, they were not entitled to counsel fees from the trust estate.

Questions Presented

1. Whether heirs who unsuccessfully litigated to terminate a charitable trust and recover its corpus may obtain attorney fees from the trust estate when their interests were adverse to the trustee and beneficiaries.
2. Whether the Gaillards were entitled to more than their taxable costs after failing to establish any right to the trust funds.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded