Trustees with discretionary authority face review for abuse of discretion rather than de novo reassessment. Ascertainable standards limiting discretion to health, education, maintenance, and support create enforceable criteria.
Absolute discretion still requires good faith.
Alternative Names:
Distribution Dispute|Discretionary Standard Dispute
Why it Matters?
Ascertainable standards create enforceable criteria that absolute discretion does not, which means a beneficiary challenging a refusal under a health, education, maintenance, and support standard has a reviewable benchmark while one facing absolute discretion must show bad faith or failure to exercise judgment at all. Whether the trustee must consider other resources is separately determined by the instrument and frequently unaddressed.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
What does an ascertainable standard provide?
What is frequently unaddressed?
