Superior Court Decision dated 9/9/2019

Fair Hearing Decision 1808971

Hearing decision overturned on appeal to Superior Court. The hearing officer had erroneously concluded that the power of appointment allowed the appellant to appoint trust assets to her children upon the condition that the money is returned to her; the overturned “reasoning” was that even though the trust limits principal distributions to the appellant or otherwise constrains the appellant’s power of appointment, the phrase “notwithstanding the foregoing” immediately follows; this phrase, in the incorrect view of the hearing officer, freed the appellant’s power of appointment from the prohibition on the appellant’s benefiting from the trust principal.