---
title: Preparing and Litigating Trusts
description: An unclearly written trust can be wrongly administered, misused, or no longer serve its essential purpose
image: https://www.gallatin-law.com/hubfs/Canva%20images/Canva%20Design%20DAEbAAQZQik.png
---
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04/07/2021
# Preparing and Litigating Trusts
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Estate planning can include using a trust. There are two fundamental forms of a trust: Revocable and Irrevocable. As much as lawyers in Stillwater, Forest Lake, or White Bear Lake may try, they prepare trusts that are in some ways unclear.
When the language of a trust is unclear or ambiguous, Minnesota law turns to the intent of the testator. It is that intent that is used to interpret and construct the trust's terms, with the interpretation and construction to be such that the testator's intent is effectuated. *See In re G.B. Van Dusen Marital Trust, 834 N.W.2d 514 (Minn. Ct. App. 2013) , In re Trust Created Under Agreement with McLaughlin, 361 N.W.2d 43 (Minn. 1985), and In re Fiske's Trust, 242 Minn. 452, 65 N.W.2d 906 (1954).*
There are two sets of evidence that become extremely important in the litigation of a trust. First, the trust document itself. Second, the notes and expressions of the grantor leading up to the preparation of the trust. Those notes may be part of the lawyer's file, the grantor's file, or something else.
Litigating a trust can include this second set of evidence. In fact, it can be the best evidence in the case. That is, while the trust is a piece of evidence, the terms may be unclear. The best way to clarify the trust document is the documented intentions of the grantor. Thus, no matter what the trust says, it is interpreted in such a way as to comport with the intentions. It is **not** the case that the trust is used to interpret the intentions.
If you believe a trust is being wrongly administered, misused, or is no longer serving its essential purpose, I am here and am experience in both the preparation and litigation of trusts. Don't let assets and evidence become permanently lost, let's act now to preserve assets and evidence to achieve a proper result.
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## [Dan Gallatin](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/author/dan-gallatin)
Dan is a lifelong resident of Minnesota. Born in St. Paul, Dan spent many of his formative years growing up there before moving to White Bear Lake. After graduating from White Bear Lake, Dan spent four glorious years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning a degree in two majors. Dan worked as a Senior Investigator at the Minnesota Department of Commerce for several years after graduating from college. During his final years Dan attended William Mitchell College of Law while still working full-time. During this exhausting 3 ½ year period Dan honed his skills in becoming an efficient, to-the-point legal practitioner. While at Madison Dan met his wife, Tonya, and together they moved to Minnesota to plant their roots. Dan and Tonya have two amazing, unique children and reside in Hugo.
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