Trust Litigation - Indiana,The Simon Trust

Here is some news from Indianapolis. Deborah Simon says other potential trustees have conflicts

Deborah Simon, who’s seeking to remove her stepmother from overseeing a trust that holds her late father Melvin’s fortune, is asking a court to pass over the two Indianapolis businessmen who normally would be next in line for the job.

Language in the trust stipulates that if the stepmother, Bren Simon, is unable to serve as trustee because of incapacitation, resignation or death, Deborah’s brother, David, Simon Property Group’s chairman and CEO, would step into the role. And if he couldn’t serve, retired Katz Sapper & Miller partner Bruce Jacobson would become trustee.

But in a filing Monday seeking Bren’s ouster, Deborah instead favors appointment of a disinterested corporate trustee. The filing, first reported by IBJ, says that neither David Simon nor Jacobson should fill the role because both will be witnesses in the lawsuit she filed Jan. 7 contesting changes in the will that Melvin executed in February 2009—seven months before he died at age 82.

The changes boosted the portion of Melvin’s estate going directly to Bren, 66, from one-third to one-half. They also wiped out the portion that was to go to Deborah, David and their sister, Cynthia Simon-Skjodt.

The point to take from all this? Regardless of how much planning there is in preventing litigation, there is just no way to prevent all litigation. But as I learned in Boy Scouts, being prepared helps more a whole lot more than no preparation.

Without any business succession planning, this kind of fight would have no boundaries. As it stands now, the fight has boundaries.

What planning have you done to prevent the business from being swallowed whole by litigation? If you have not done any, why not?