Justia Nebraska Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Ruth Mansfield, the beneficiary of an inter vivos trust, died in 2005 after more than a decade of battling diffuse cerebrovascular disease. After Ruth's death, her estate sought payment of her last-illness expenses from the trust. The trustee declined. The county court concluded the trustee had properly denied payment of the medical bills because the purpose of the trust had ended with Ruth's death. The Supreme Court disagreed with the lower court's reasoning and remanded. On remand, the county court granted the trustee's and remainder beneficiaries' motions for summary judgment. The Supreme Court affirmed, concluding that the trustee did not have a fiduciary duty imposed either through statute or the language of the trust to pay Ruth's medical expenses and did not abuse its discretion in declining to pay Ruth's medical expenses from the trust principal. View "In re Trust Created by Hansen" on Justia Law

Appellants, four natural resources districts ("NRDs"), appealed the Department's 2009 order finding that in 2008, the basin was fully appropriated. Michael Jacobson, a landowner in the basin, cross-appealed. As a threshold matter, the supreme court found the NRDs had standing to challenge the Department's determination, but Jacobson lacked standing because he failed to allege actual or imminent harm. The court then reversed and vacated the Department's order, holding it to be arbitrary and invalid because (1) the Department failed to conform to its own regulations when it determined the basin was fully appropriated and failed to apply its methodologies in a consistent manner, resulting in a designation that was arbitrary and capricious; and (2) the Department failed to plainly describe its methodologies so that they could be replicated and assessed in compliance with Neb. Rev. Stat. 46-713(1)(d). View "Middle Niobrara Natural Resources Dept. v. Dept. of Natural Resources" on Justia Law