Justice Laura Jacobson
BNY Mellon, the successor trustee of a Supplemental Needs Trust (SNT), moved to judicially settle a final account, among other things. An underlying suit for personal injuries settled for $700,000, and the monies were placed in an SNT for the infant plaintiff. Trustees were authorized to pay $1,500 for monthly expenses, subject to modification by the trustee, as needed. The court found the trust had $3,253.03 remaining as of June 30, 2009. The court noted the trust spent more than $400,000 in just six years. Accordingly, the court scheduled hearings to determine how trust monies were distributed, finding the trustee breached its fiduciary duties to the infant by failing to make decisions based on his long term needs to extend the life of the trust. Further, the court concluded BNY breached its fiduciary duty by authorizing every discretionary disbursement plaintiff's mother requested. Hence, the court found BNY breached its duty pertaining to distributions for at home care, taxi services and various medicines. Therefore, the court ruled BNY was responsible for returning $176,905.99 to the trust.
