Disclaimer: General educational research only — not legal advice. These are summaries of published court opinions, not a prediction of how any case will turn out. Talk to an estate planning attorney about your documents and your state’s law.
Estate Planning Data & Research → Trust Litigation Watch
A trust can avoid probate, but it does not always avoid court. Families go to court to remove a trustee, to decide whether someone’s lawsuit triggered a “no-contest” clause that cuts them out of the trust, and to challenge whether a trust or an amendment is valid.
We searched CourtListener’s database of published opinions from January 2025 through early October 2026 and read the ones that turned up. 29 opinions from 16 states fit the scope below. This is a companion to our Will Contest Watch, which covers challenges to wills and trusts; this page adds the trustee-removal and no-contest cases that page left out.
If you’re deciding between leaving things in a will or in a trust, the choice affects who is named, how they can be replaced and what could end up in court. Compare a trust and a will here.
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Cite this page URL when reusing findings. Not a substitute for official sources or professional advice.
Key findings
- 29 opinions fit the scope: 13 involve a no-contest (in terrorem) clause, 12 a request to remove or replace a trustee, and 6 a challenge to a trust’s validity (some involve more than one). 6 of the 29 are also counted in Will Contest Watch.
- No-contest clauses were the most common issue (13 opinions). Courts split: in some the clause was enforced and the beneficiary lost the inheritance, in others it was held not triggered or the ruling was sent back for another look.
- Of the 26 opinions with a clear appellate result, 15 (58%) were affirmed and 11 (42%) were reversed in whole or in part. Two appeals were dismissed and one is a trial-court report. The set is small and not random, so treat the percentages as descriptive.
- Ohio has the most opinions (5), then California (4), Arkansas and Iowa (3 each). State counts reflect which courts publish opinions, not where trust disputes are most common.
- Coverage is incomplete. We found 119 opinions in the search results. Text could not be retrieved for 34 of them (29%), including 8 of the 10 New York opinions that matched (the state’s court site did not respond). Those are not counted.
How we sorted the opinions
An opinion is counted here if the court decided, or the dispute turned on, one of these:
- Trustee removal. A petition or motion to remove, replace or restrict a trustee, or the validity of a removal made under the trust’s terms.
- No-contest clause. Whether a beneficiary’s lawsuit triggered a no-contest or in terrorem clause in a trust (or, in a few cases, a will), and what followed.
- Trust validity. A challenge to a trust or trust amendment for lack of capacity, undue influence or similar grounds.
We did not count disputes over trustee accounting, fees or breach of fiduciary duty where no removal or no-contest question was decided, trust modification, partnership or business disputes that happened to involve a trust, or federal court cases.
Opinions by issue
| Issue | Opinions |
|---|---|
| No-contest clause | 13 |
| Trustee removal | 12 |
| Trust validity | 6 |
Totals add to more than 29 because some opinions raise more than one issue.
Outcomes
| Outcome | Opinions |
|---|---|
| Affirmed | 15 |
| Reversed or vacated | 4 |
| Mixed (affirmed in part, reversed in part) | 7 |
| Appeal dismissed | 2 |
| Trial-level report | 1 |
“Reversed” includes rulings sent back to the trial court. “Mixed” includes opinions that affirmed one issue and reversed or vacated another, such as an attorney fee award.
Opinions by state
| State | Opinions |
|---|---|
| Ohio | 5 |
| California | 4 |
| Arkansas | 3 |
| Iowa | 3 |
| Georgia | 2 |
| Indiana | 2 |
| Delaware | 1 |
| Alaska | 1 |
| Kentucky | 1 |
| Idaho | 1 |
| Hawaii | 1 |
| Alabama | 1 |
| Michigan | 1 |
| Montana | 1 |
| Utah | 1 |
| Kansas | 1 |
All 29 opinions
| Date | Case | Court | Issue | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-01 | Sandford v. Sandford | California Court of Appeal | trustee removal | mixed |
| 2026-09-30 | Nelson v. Nelson | California Court of Appeal | no-contest clause | reversed |
| 2026-09-16 | Joshua Spotts, Michelle Rains, and Merrell Conlee v. Carl Merrell, Trustee | Ct. App. of Arkansas | no-contest clause | reversed |
| 2026-09-10 | In Re: Estate of Susie Bell Kelley | Ct. App. of Georgia | no-contest clause | mixed |
| 2026-08-10 | Stephen J. Palumbo v. Gregory M. Palumbo | Court of Chancery of Delaware | trustee removal | trial-level |
| 2026-08-07 | Oswald v. Oswald | Ohio Ct. App. | trustee removal | affirmed |
| 2026-07-31 | In Re Meeker Revocable Trust U/A/D July 15, 2014 | Alaska Sup. Ct. | trust validity | affirmed |
| 2026-07-17 | Grimberg v. Pour | California Court of Appeal | trust validity | appeal dismissed |
| 2026-07-10 | Frank Ramsey, III, as of the Estate of Frank v. Ramsey, Jr. v. Cynthia Rams | Ct. App. of Kentucky | no-contest clause | mixed |
| 2026-06-30 | WAYNE MORRISON, TODD MORRISON, BRYANT MORRISON, and LYN DEESUE MORRISON v. | Idaho Sup. Ct. | trustee removal | affirmed |
| 2026-06-09 | In re Tung Trust | California Court of Appeal | no-contest clause | reversed |
| 2026-05-26 | Smith v. Avery | Ohio Ct. App. | no-contest clause | affirmed |
| 2026-04-24 | In re: Fujishima Family Trust | Hawaii Intermediate Ct. App. | trustee removal | affirmed |
| 2026-04-24 | Laurie Ibach and Mark Stewart v. Bruce Stewart, individually, as Trustee of | Sup. Ct. of Alabama | trust validity | appeal dismissed |
| 2026-04-09 | Marcinkevicius v. Galloway | Ohio Ct. App. | trustee removal | affirmed |
| 2026-03-10 | In Re Robert W Ashcraft Trust | Michigan Ct. App. | trustee removal | affirmed |
| 2026-03-04 | MARCIA ANITA JOHNSON v. JIMMY W. JOHNSON | Ct. App. of Georgia | trustee removal | mixed |
| 2025-12-10 | Wiley Duane Duvall v. Greg Duvall | Ct. App. of Arkansas | no-contest clause | affirmed |
| 2025-12-02 | Apple-Chamberlain v. Apple | Ohio Ct. App. | trustee removal; no-contest clause | mixed |
| 2025-11-25 | In The Matter of The Estate Rex Felten | Sup. Ct. of Iowa | no-contest clause | affirmed |
| 2025-10-14 | Matter of: The Potter Exemption Trust | Montana Sup. Ct. | trustee removal | mixed |
| 2025-10-09 | Brown v. Amidan | Ct. App. of Utah | trust validity; no-contest clause | affirmed |
| 2025-10-08 | Ricky D Greene v. Jeffery A. Greene | Indiana Ct. App. | trustee removal | affirmed |
| 2025-07-23 | Winslow v. Poole | Ct. App. of Iowa | trust validity | reversed |
| 2025-07-09 | Angel M Mohr v. Star A Johnston | Indiana Ct. App. | no-contest clause | affirmed |
| 2025-06-04 | Caroline Lasiter v. Newland & Associates, Pllc | Ct. App. of Arkansas | no-contest clause | affirmed |
| 2025-04-11 | Sutherland v. Sutherland Trust | Ct. App. of Kansas | no-contest clause | mixed |
| 2025-04-10 | Dueck v. Kerrigan | Ohio Ct. App. | trustee removal | affirmed |
| 2025-03-05 | In re Estate of Stacy | Ct. App. of Iowa | trust validity | affirmed |
Each case name links to the opinion on CourtListener. Outcome is the appellate court’s disposition as we read it. “Trial-level” is a Delaware Court of Chancery magistrate’s final report.
What the cases show
These are observations about the opinions we read, not legal advice:
- No-contest clauses depend on exact wording and the facts. In the opinions we read, courts looked at the clause’s text and what the beneficiary actually did. Outcomes ranged from enforcement to a finding that the clause had not been triggered.
- Trustee removal fights often start inside the family. Many of the removal cases involved siblings or co-trustees, and several turned on what the trust document itself says about who can remove a trustee and why. See who will be your executor and trust administration after death.
- Challenges to trusts raise the same questions as challenges to wills, such as capacity and undue influence. One Iowa opinion held a challenge to a trust could not go forward while the person who made it was still living.
- Written terms matter. The trust’s removal and no-contest provisions were the starting point in most of these opinions. A trust that is clear about who may serve, how a trustee can be replaced and what counts as a contest leaves less to argue about.
Related: Will Contest Watch · Intestacy gap · Life events that outdate a will
Methodology
Search. CourtListener (Free Law Project) search API v4, type “opinions,” filed on or after Jan. 1, 2025, with three keyword searches: trustee removal and breach (removal, surcharge, breach of fiduciary duty with trustee and settlor), no-contest or in terrorem clauses with trust terms, and trust contests (undue influence or lack of capacity with trust amendment, revocable or living trust and settlor). The searches returned 119 unique opinion records (published and, in CourtListener, including some state intermediate-court and trial-level reports).
Text and review. We retrieved the opinion text from the courts’ own sites or CourtListener for 85 of the 119 opinions. We classified each by key terms, then read the key passages and the disposition of each candidate. 54 opinions with text were reviewed and excluded as outside the scope above, and 2 were duplicates of another listed opinion (the same case reissued or modified). Federal opinions were excluded.
Outcome. Taken from the opinion’s own disposition language.
What this doesn’t measure. How many trust disputes are filed or settled (most are not published), how common any outcome is, or how any individual case will end. Published opinions are a small and non-random share of trust disputes.
Frequently asked questions
What is a no-contest clause in a trust?
A provision saying a beneficiary who contests the trust, or challenges it in certain ways, loses their share. Whether a particular lawsuit counts as a contest depends on the clause’s wording and state law.
Can a trustee be removed?
Yes, in many states a court can remove a trustee for reasons such as breach of duty, and many trusts also give someone the power to remove and replace a trustee. The opinions here show both routes.
Can you challenge a trust while the person who made it is alive?
An Iowa Court of Appeals opinion in this set held a challenge to a living person’s revocable trust should be dismissed. State rules can differ.
Why does this page cover only 16 states?
Because it only counts published opinions that matched our searches and that we could read. A state with no entry may have opinions we could not retrieve or that were not published.
Is this legal advice?
No. It is educational research. An attorney can tell you how your state’s law applies.
Sources
- CourtListener (Free Law Project) Search API v4, type=o, filed_after=2025-01-01: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/search/ (API key in .env; no key stored in raw files)
- Opinion texts: state court websites (download_url on each CourtListener record) and CourtListener opinion API. Court opinions are public records.
- Each included case links to its CourtListener opinion page.
Cite this data
Family Estate Guide, “Trust Litigation Watch: Trustee Removal, No-Contest Clauses and Trust Challenges in Court Opinions,” October 2026. https://familyestateguide.com/estate-planning-data/trust-litigation-watch/
You’re welcome to reuse the tables with a link back to this page. Court opinions are public records.
Published October 11, 2026 by Family Estate Guide. Data vintage: CourtListener opinions filed Jan. 1, 2025 to early Oct. 2026; reviewed Oct. 11, 2026. Editorial standards.