The Telegraph reported the family squabble in an article titled “Desmond Tutu’s daughter ‘tried to hijack one of his trusts’.”
There are two lessons to be learned from this story. First, no matter the reputation of someone creating a trust or an estate plan, there is no guarantee that heirs will behave in the same way.
Second, a trust should be drafted so if there are problems and board members cannot get along, the trust can be dissolved or board members can be replaced. This appears to have been the case with this trust.
It is important to make sure that a trust has contingency options for these types of situations.
An experienced estate planning attorney can help you anticipate such potential issues.
