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

Heading: Role of Grantor's Intent

Text: {11} We start with the basic principle that [i]n construing the provisions of wills and trust instruments, the court must attempt to ascertain and give effect to the [grantor's] intent. Fenley v. Estate of Deupree (In re Estate of Deupree), 2002-NMCA-097, ¶¶ 10, 12, 132 N.M. 701, 54 P.3d 542 (noting that a court may consider the language and conduct of the parties, the surrounding circumstances, and, where needed to interpret ambiguous language, extrinsic evidence of the parties' intent, including testimony of the attorney who drafted the trust) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); Loco Credit Union v. Reed, 85 N.M. 729, 733, 516 P.2d 1112, 1116 (1973) (emphasizing the need to honor the intent of the grantors, despite deficiencies in technical document drafting). {12} In the Uniform Trust Code (UTC), adopted by the New Mexico Legislature in 2003 as NMSA 1978, Sections 46A-1-101 to 46A-11-1105 (2003, as amended through 2009), the phrase terms of the trust is defined as the manifestation of the settlor's intent regarding a trust's provisions as expressed in the trust instrument or as may be established by other evidence that would be admissible in a judicial proceeding. Section 46A-1-103(R); see also Restatement (Third) of Trusts: Terms of the Trust § 4 (2003) (The phrase `terms of the trust' means the manifestation of intention of the settlor with respect to the trust provisions expressed in a manner that admits of its proof in judicial proceedings.). The phrase the terms of the trust is used in a broad sense ... [and] includes any manifestations of the settlor's intention at the time of the creation of the trust, whether expressed by written or spoken words or by conduct.... The terms of the trust may appear clearly from written or spoken words, or they may be provided by statute, supplied by rules of construction, or determined by interpretation of the words or conduct of the settlor in the light of all of the circumstances surrounding the creation of the trust. Restatement (Third) of Trusts: Terms of the Trust § 4 cmt. a. {13} As with other types of donative documents, the primary evidence of grantor intent is the plain language of each provision, when read in conjunction with the document as a whole: The text of a donative document must be read in its entirety. Each portion, whether it be a word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, article, or some other portion, is connected to a whole. The donor is presumed to intend that the various portions complement or modify each other. The case may arise, for instance, in which two portions, read in isolation, appear contradictory. But, when construction of the document as a consistent whole would be facilitated by reading one portion as modifying the other or reading both as mutually modifying each other, that construction prevails. Restatement (Third) of Prop.: Wills & Other Donative Transfers § 10.2 cmt. b (2003). See generally § 46A-1-112 (stating that the rules of construction for documents disposing of property apply as appropriate to the interpretation of the terms of a trust and the disposition of the trust property).