Trust Beneficiaries Eliminated Under a Decanting Done Pursuant to the Trust Instrument

In Matter of Hoppenstein, NYLJ 1202783016744 [Sur Ct, NY County 2017], the New York County Surrogate’s Court found the distribution of a life insurance policy from one trust to another trust which eliminated certain beneficiaries of the original trust was a‎ valid exercise of the trustee’s discretionary power to distribute principal under the trust instrument.