Samuel S. Knopik v. Shelby Investments, LLC

Summary

The Supreme Court of Missouri affirmed summary judgment declaring that the beneficiary forfeited his interests under the trust's no-contest clause by filing claims for breach of trust and removal of the trustee. The court held that the clause unambiguously covered those claims and that the beneficiary should have used the statutory procedure for obtaining an interlocutory determination of the clause's enforceability and applicability. Because he did not use that procedure, the court declined to decide whether Missouri recognizes broader exceptions to no-contest clauses.