The trustees of a family trust created by the late Henry S. McNeil Sr., of the world-renowned McNeil Laboratories, did not abuse their discretion in a series of decisions challenged by McNeil’s adult son, Henry Jr., who wanted $28 million of the trust’s principal distributed to him.
n the Chancery Court case of Bishop v. McNeil, Vice Chancellor Leo E. Strine Jr. noted that the case regrettably pitted “child against father and fiduciary against beneficiary” in a bitter dispute over the administration of the trust. But while the trustees acted in good faith, Strine wrote, “The process they used brings to mind scrapple-making. It was not very appetizing to behold, but its end product was satisfying.”
