Hamerstrom v. Commerce Bank Of Kansas City

808 S.W.2d 434 (1991)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The trust at issue directed the trustee to pay P $150 a month for life, or until the corpus was exhausted. Upon P's death, the trust was to terminate, and the corpus was to be distributed to P's husband, if living, or to the couple's sons in equal shares or to the survivor. The trustee was not given the discretion to increase the payments. P petitioned the court to modify the trust to increase the amount of the monthly payments, citing unforeseen changes in her economic condition. P's husband and sons, the named remainder beneficiaries, consented to the modification. The trustee neither supported nor opposed it. The lower court determined that the unborn issue of the sons were beneficiaries under the applicable statute, and appointed a guardian ad litem to represent their interests. The guardian opposed the petition, arguing that the proposed modification did not benefit the sons' unborn children. The court denied the petition for modification. P appeals.