Opinion ID: 1492376
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: THE CASE vs. TRUSTEES

Text: The case against the nonresident individual defendants involves the same considerations as that against Aetna; and the inquiry here, just as there, must therefore be whether the facts disclosed in the discovery procedures reveal sufficient minimum contacts between the trustees and this state to justify the exercise of jurisdiction by our courts within constitutional limitations. What plaintiff relies upon to give our courts jurisdiction over the trustees is that certain beneficiaries of the profit-sharing trust, either actual or potential, work and live in this state. That, however, is not enough. Hanson v. Denckla, supra , The controversy in that case was instituted in Florida and it concerned the validity of a trust established by a Pennsylvania domiciliary who later became domiciled in Florida and then died there. The trustee, a Delaware corporation and an indispensable party to the litigation, was served by mail. It had neither an office nor an agent in Florida; it had never solicited any business there either in person or by mail; it had neither held nor administered any of the trust assets there; nor had it transacted any other business there. In finding that a suit against the trustee concerning the validity of the trust could not be maintained in Florida, the court held that it was of no consequence that the settlor as well as some of the beneficiaries and appointees under the trust were domiciled in Florida, or that Florida may have been the center of gravity in the litigation, or that it may have been the most convenient location for a determination of the controversy. Those facts did not in its opinion constitute sufficient affiliation to enable the Florida courts to exercise jurisdiction over the trustee. In our judgment there are no facts in this case which distinguish it from Hanson v. Denckla, supra . The defendants have no office in this state, they transact no business here, they do not hold nor administer any trust assets here, and they have not engaged in any activities in this state which resulted in Rhode Island domiciliaries becoming beneficiaries of the profit-sharing trust they administer. There is, moreover, nothing in the record before us which even remotely suggests that the alleged right which plaintiff asserts arose in this state. In short, the trustees did not in any way purposely avail themselves of the privilege of conducting activities within this state and thereby invoke the benefits and protection of its laws. The only affiliating circumstances are that certain employees, either of Aetna or of its eight domestic subsidiaries, work or reside in this state and that those employees either were, or were eligible to become, participants in the trust. Those, at best, are tenuous contacts. They are not substantial enough to allow or permit our courts to exercise in personam jurisdiction. The appeal of the defendant ITT Aetna Finance Company is denied and dismissed pro forma; its petition for certiorari is granted, and the judgment of the superior court refusing to dismiss the action against it is quashed. The appeal of the plaintiff against the individual defendants is denied and dismissed.