Matter of Knox

In Matter of Knox (98 AD3d 300 [4th Dept 2012]), the court addressed a trust created by a grantor for his grandchildren. The trust was funded with shares of Woolworth, which the grantor had co-founded, and shares of Marine Trust Company of Western New York. The Trust Company was named as sole trustee and was given a power to invest trust funds "without regard to diversification or to limitations or restrictions of any kind" (id. at 305). The trust instrument further provided that the trustee was authorized to consult with counsel, and would be protected in connection with any action taken in good faith under advice of counsel. When the trustee filed an account, covering the years 1957 through 2005, the adult income beneficiaries and the guardian ad litem for the minor remainder beneficiaries filed objections to the trustee's retention of the Woolworth stock. The court noted that under the prudent investor rule and its predecessors, "it is not sufficient that hindsight might suggest that another course would have been more beneficial; nor does a mere error of investment judgment mandate a surcharge" (id. at 309 ).