Opinion ID: 1941403
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Art Hadley Living Trust

Text: Before his death in 1941, Art Hadley established both a living trust and a testamentary trust. The Art Hadley Living Trust, executed on January 15, 1936, established a trust for the benefit of Art Hadley and his wife, Frances Hadley, that would terminate upon the last of their deaths and would be distributed to their children. On three subsequent occasions, Art Hadley amended this trust. The third amendment, on December 9, 1940, is the only amendment that affects the distribution of the trust assets. In its final form, the Art Hadley Living Trust establishes a trust for the benefit of Art Hadley's wife, Frances Hadley, and his two children, Thomas Hadley and Sarah Hadley. According to the trust's terms, upon Frances Hadley's death, the trust income was to be paid, in the trustees' discretion, for the benefit of Art Hadley's two children, Thomas Hadley and Sarah Hadley. Upon the death of the last survivor of Art Hadley's children or his wife, the trust would terminate and the corpus would be distributed in fee simple to the children and issue then living of his two children, in equal shares per stirpes. If, however, Thomas Hadley or Sarah Hadley left no surviving issue, the trust contained a failure provision. That provision instructed: In case of the total failure of all of the trusts hereinbefore provided for with respect to the final disposition of the principal of the trust estate or any shares thereof, the Trustee shall transfer, convey and pay over the then principal of the trust estate, or such shares, as the case may be, discharged of these trusts, to and among those persons who would then be entitled to the personal estate of the Settlor under the laws of said State of Rhode Island had he then died intestate, a domiciled inhabitant of said State, according to the statutes of distribution then in force in said State, and in the shares and proportions provided by said statutes. B