Jenifer Duncan Et Al.v.Olga Rawls Et Al.
Fourteen trust beneficiaries challenged the enforcement of an in terrorem, or no-contest, provision after alleging that undue influence affected the trust created by Olga Casteleiro de Goizueta. The trial court granted the trustees partial summary judgment on the undue-influence challenge and ruled on related fiduciary-duty and tortious-interference claims. The Georgia Court of Appeals held that the legislature, rather than the courts, determines Georgia public policy on the enforceability of no-contest provisions, so the trial court correctly enforced the clause against the undue-influence claim. The appellate court vacated the portion of the order addressing breach of fiduciary duty and remanded for the trial court to determine whether the tortious-interference claim was barred by the clause. A dissent would have required further analysis of the trust documents and would have vacated additional portions of the judgment, including rulings concerning the fiduciary-duty and tortious-interference claims.
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