The SD Supreme Court handed down one decisions this morning,
holding, inter alia:
1) Trustees protected against claim of imprudent investment;
Summary follows:
REDLIN TRUST v. FIRST INTERSTATE BANK, 2024 S.D. 5: Daughter
of deceased trustor brought suit against
co Trustees (her brother and a bank) for imprudent handling of
funds. Some $3 million in cash assets
were simply deposited in a money market account, earning only modest interest
income. Daughter proceeds on numerous
theories including breach of fiduciary duty, gross negligence, & bad
faith. The trial court granted summary
judgment for the Defendant Trustees, relying, inter alia, on the
provision of the trust instrument which established a waiver of the
Prudent Investor Rule. The SD Supreme
Court affirmed. This decision is
unanimous (5-0) with opinion authored by Justice Kern.
These decisions may be accessed at
