Opinion ID: 2274784
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Division of Trust Assets

Text: The Ferlands contend that the motion justice should have granted summary judgment in their favor, rather than for the Steinhofs, because the trust should be construed to divide the trust corpus into three equal shares: one for Alice, one for Edward's heirs, and one for Laura's heirs. More specifically, the Ferlands assert that Article VII, Section B of the trust is unambiguous on its face, and thus it was improper for the motion justice to look to other provisions of the trust to ascertain Robert's intent. The Ferlands also assert that the motion justice incorrectly relied on the absence of any specific reference to Laura in the trust. Such reliance was improper, according to the Ferlands, because the provisions that specifically name Edward and Alice refer to a power of appointment and an interest for Robert's living siblings, neither of which could have applied to Laura, who was deceased at the time the trust was drafted. Michelle and the Steinhofs counter that the motion justice did not err in granting summary judgment for the Steinhofs because construction of the trust requires its division into two equal shares: one for Alice and one for Edward's heirs. Specifically, the Steinhofs argue that the trust and the 1999 amendment clearly reflect Robert's intention for the trust to benefit only Edward, Alice, and their issue. To support their position, the Steinhofs note that every reference in Article VII is to Robert's brother or sister in the singular, that the trust as a whole never refers to his brothers or sisters in the plural, and that the trust does not refer to any of Robert's siblings by name other than Edward and Alice. This Court's primary objective when construing language in a will or trust is to ascertain and effectuate the intent of the testator or settlor as long as that intent is not contrary to law. Fleet National Bank v. Hunt, 944 A.2d 846, 851 (R.I.2008) (quoting In re DiBiasio, 705 A.2d 972, 973 (R.I.1998)). To ascertain the settlor's intent, donative language should be interpreted with reference to the whole trust. See Chile v. Beck, 452 A.2d 626, 628 (R.I.1982) (noting that a phrase contained in a will should not be viewed in a vacuum, but rather should be read in light of the rest of the will). [3] Moreover, the words of a trust should be given their primary, ordinary, and common meaning unless it plainly [appears] that they were used in some other sense. Hunt v. Citizens Trust Co., 519 A.2d 1120, 1122 (R.I.1987) (quoting Prince v. Roberts, 436 A.2d 1078, 1081 (R.I.1981)). If the language of a trust or a will expressly states the [settlor or] testator's intention, resort to the rules of    construction is without warrant; it is when the language under consideration is susceptible of being read as disclosing alternate or contrary intentions that the rules of construction properly may be invoked. In re DiBiasio, 705 A.2d at 973-74 (quoting Goldstein v. Goldstein, 104 R.I. 284, 287, 243 A.2d 914, 916 (1968)). Therefore, our rules of construction should be used only when the meaning of a trust is not apparent from the plain and ordinary meaning of its language or, in other words, when it is ambiguous. Furthermore, when donative intent cannot be determined from within the four corners of a will or a trust, resort to extrinsic evidence may be proper. See Hayden v. Hayden, 925 A.2d 947, 951 (R.I.2007) (quoting Greater Providence Chapter, R.I. Association of Retarded Citizens v. John E. Fogarty Foundation for the Mentally Retarded, 488 A.2d 1228, 1229 (R.I.1985) (noting that when determining intent, this Court adheres to the principle that, when that intent can be determined `from within the four corners of the will, resort to extrinsic evidence is unnecessary and improper')). This Court has held that [a]mbiguous language in a will or a trust presents the trial justice with a mixed question of law and fact   . In re DiBiasio, 705 A.2d at 974. In granting summary judgment for Michelle and the Steinhofs, the motion justice summarized the legal standard for the construction of trusts. She also concluded that, [a]fter reviewing the trust document in its entirety, it is clear that Robert intended to provide for only Edward J. Steinhof and Alice Bouchard and their issue. Although the motion justice did not explicitly state that she found the trust unambiguous, the motion justice could not have granted the motion for summary judgment in the absence of such a determination. Summary judgment may only be granted when the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, and a trust must be unambiguous to construe it as a matter of law. The motion justice in granting summary judgment, therefore, necessarily determined that the trust was unambiguous. It is clear to us, however, that the trust contains ambiguities that cannot be resolved by rules of construction; therefore, it may be necessary to resort to the introduction of extrinsic evidence to ascertain Robert's intention for the final distribution of the trust corpus, as reflected in the wording of Article VII, Section B of the trust. See Prince, 436 A.2d at 1081 (noting that the trust provision's patent and latent ambiguities required the introduction of extrinsic evidence for resolution). The trust provision at issue, again, states in pertinent part:  Section B. Family Trusts. (1) Establishment. The rest, residue, and remainder of the Trust Estate shall be divided to provide (a) one equal share for Settlor's brother and Settlor's sister, each to be held as a separate trust for Settlor's brother's and Settlor's sister's benefit under subsection (2) of this Section B of this ARTICLE VII, and (b) one equal share for the then living issue, collectively, of each then deceased brother or sister of Settlor, to be administered for the benefit of those issue pursuant to subsection (2) of Section B of this ARTICLE VII. In the event Settlor's brother or Settlor's sister shall predecease Settlor with no surviving issue, such deceased brother's or sister's share shall be distributed equally amongst the then remaining shares established hereunder. (Emphasis added.) In our opinion, the word sister as used throughout the trust created an ambiguity, because it is unclear whether the word was intended to be interpreted broadly to incorporate its plural form. The ambiguity becomes apparent when considering the application of the terms, because Robert had two sisters with issue to whom Robert could have been referring. Namely, at the time of the trust's creation, Robert had two living siblings, Edward and Alice, and one deceased sister with issue, Laura. It was possible, at that time, that Robert could have predeceased both Edward and Alice. If he had, Edward and Alice each would have received one half of one share of the trust under subsection (1)(a) of Article VII, Section B, and subsection ( l )(b) would have either created a share for the Ferlands, under the Ferlands' reading of the text, or it would have been rendered inoperative, under the Steinhofs' reading. Therefore, under a reading of the trust that gives every clause effect, it could be possible that Robert intended to provide for the Ferlands. See generally Lewis v. Douglass, 14 R.I. 604 (1884) (construing a will to give effect to each clause). In contrast, an alternative reading of the trust may suggest that Robert intentionally omitted the Ferlands. Specifically, the plain and ordinary meaning of the word sister denotes a single sister, and some uses of the word sister within the trust further suggest that the term was not intended to incorporate the plural form of the word. [4] We do not highlight these arguments to suggest that any one of them is dispositive in construing the trust, but rather to suggest that when both parties' arguments are scrutinized it is clear that the trust contains ambiguities that cannot be resolved without introducing extrinsic evidence. Given the ambiguous nature of the trust, we conclude that questions of material fact exist that were not appropriate for summary disposition. Cf. D.T.P., Inc. v. Red Bridge Properties, Inc., 576 A.2d 1377, 1381 (R.I.1990) (noting that summary judgment may not be proper when the case involves an ambiguous contract because the ambiguity creates a question of fact). At oral argument, it became apparent that there are additional material facts that have not been established in the record. The record contains no affidavits attesting to the relationship between Robert and his nieces, nephews, sisters, or brother, the drafting attorney's understanding of Robert's intention, or other elucidating facts. See Doar v. Doar, 63 R.I. 18, 23, 6 A.2d 738, 740 (1939) (noting that a will should be construed with reference to the whole will, to the subject matter relative to which it speaks, and to the circumstances existing at the time of the execution of the will respecting the testator's family and estate). Thus, we believe that material issues of fact remain to be established at trial, and we remand this case for trial.