Opinion ID: 891653
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Testimony of Drafting Attorney

Text: {29} To the extent that it can be argued that there was any ambiguity in the proper interpretation of the documentation on its face, the extrinsic evidence provided by the attorney who was retained by Lowell and Martha to draft their trust agreement confirms our interpretation. All relevant evidence may be considered to determine a grantor's intent, including relevant extrinsic evidence, so long as it does not contradict the clear terms of an otherwise unambiguous donative document. See Restatement (Third) of Prop. § 10.2; see also § 46A-1-103(R) ([I]ntent ... may be established by other evidence that would be admissible in a judicial proceeding[.]); Garcia v. Taylor (In re Estate of Frietze), 1998-NMCA-145, ¶ 10, 126 N.M. 16, 966 P.2d 183 (noting that extrinsic evidence cannot contradict unambiguous terms). Here, attorney Marsh's affidavit was the only available extrinsic evidence of donative intent, and it demonstrated that Section 9.1 was drafted by the attorney with the intent of, and explained to Lowell and Martha as, conferring upon the surviving spouse the power to amend the trust agreement after the death of the first spouse. {30} Although our construction is consistent with that set forth in the drafting attorney's affidavit, the extent of the litigation in this case should serve as a caution to those drafting similar instruments to take special care when drafting in order to minimize the risks of confusion and unnecessary litigation, and, even worse, frustration of a grantor's intent by misinterpretation or invocation of default rules. Cf. Restatement (Third) of Trusts: Power of Settlor to Revoke or Modify § 63 cmts. b-d ([N]o competent drafter ever leaves [the question of revocability] to default law.).