Trust Amendments Must Comply with the Requirements of the Trust to Be Valid
The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently affirmed a Probate and Family Court summary judgment decision holding void ab initio a purported trust amendment that was not approved by the holders of a majority of the beneficial interests, as the trust required. The case, In re Estate of Gravel, 105 Mass. App. Ct. 1143 (2025) (an unpublished disposition issued pursuant to M.A.C. Rule 23.0), involved a trust established by the decedent, Mary Jane Gravel, in 2017, for the benefit of her grandchildren and naming her son as her successor trustee. In 2022, the decedent executed an amendment to the trust naming her nephew as successor trustee (in place of her son) and made him (rather than her grandchildren) the beneficiary. After the decedent died, her son and nephew filed competing petitions for probate of her estate, and the nephew sought a declaration that the 2022 trust amendment was valid.
On cross motions for summary judgment, the Probate and Family Court ruled in favor of the son, finding that the 2022 amendment was void ab initio. On appeal, the Appeals Court affirmed. The Appeals Court noted that a disagreement existed concerning whether the trust was revocable or irrevocable, but stated that it did not need to resolve that question because the outcome of the case would be the same. That was so because the original 2017 trust, even if revocable, stated plainly that amendments to the trust could be made “by an instrument in writing signed by the beneficiaries holding at least 51% of the beneficial interest.” The Appeals Court held that the presence of this requirement for amendments in the trust rendered the 2022 amendment void because the amendment was not signed by any of the beneficiaries.
The Court rejected the nephew’s argument that an amendment was impossible under the language of the trust because the minor beneficiaries could not legally consent to it, and so an amendment was permissible under G.L. c. 203E, § 602(c), which applies when the terms of a trust do not provide a method for amendment. Instead, the Court recognized that the beneficiaries’ legal guardian—the decedent’s son—acting as their trustee could have approved the amendment on their behalf, but he had not done so. Accordingly, the 2022 amendment was void and could not be enforced, leaving the original 2017 trust and its beneficiaries in place.
The Takeaway
Under Massachusetts law, a trust amendment must strictly comply with the requirements in the trust for amendments of the trust. A failure to do so will render the purported amendment void ab initio.
