In a judicial proceeding involving the administration of a trust, a court, as justice and equity may require, may award costs and expenses, including reasonable attorney's fees, to any party, to be paid by another party or from the trust that is the subject of the controversy.
History.
Acts 2005, No. 1031, § 1.
Research References
U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev.
Lynn Foster, Arkansas’s Trust Code and Trust Planning: A Ten-Year Perspective, 38 U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev. 301 (2016).
Case Notes
Attorney's Fees Proper.
This section gave a circuit court the discretion to award a widow her attorney's fees to be paid by two coexecutors of a decedent's estate because (1) the widow's petition seeking a construction of the will necessarily involved a construction of a trust instrument as well because the will devised to the coexecutors, as trustees, all of the decedent's property not otherwise disposed of in the trusts created for the benefit of the widow and the older children, and (2) an action to determine whether certain property was an asset of a trust was an action involving the administration of a trust within the meaning of this section. The circuit court was not required to grant the widow her fees on each particular issue.
Taylor v. Woods, 102 Ark. App. 92, 282 S.W.3d 285 (2008), rehearing denied, — Ark. App. —, — S.W.3d —, 2008 Ark. App. LEXIS 625 (Aug. 20, 2008).
Award of attorney's fees was proper because a request for an accounting was rejected, the petition for attorney's fees was well supported by invoices and affidavits, and an accounting was an issue that was manifestly an aspect of trust administration.
Bank of the Ozarks v. Cossey (In re Hamilton Living
Trust), 2015 Ark. 367, 471 S.W.3d 203 (2015).
Award of attorney's fees affirmed, but as the case was a judicial proceeding that involved the administration of a trust, attorney's fees should have been awarded under this section rather than under § 16-22-308.
Reed v. Smith, 2018 Ark. App. 313, 551 S.W.3d 407 (2018).
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 11
cases (4 in the last 5 years), 2007–2023 · leading case: Calvert v. Est. of Calvert, 259 S.W.3d 456 (Ark. Ct. App. 2007).
Calvert v. Est. of Calvert, 259 S.W.3d 456 (Ark. Ct. App. 2007). · cites it 16דOn December 9, 2005, a hearing was held on appellant's claims against the estate, and, thereafter, the trial court issued an opinion finding that Texas law applied to the dispute and, that under the trust agreement, there was no breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, bad faith, or…”
Taylor v. Woods, 282 S.W.3d 285 (Ark. Ct. App. 2008). · cites it 6דAlexander also did not address the issue of the court’s authority for an award of fees.”
In re Est. of Thompson, 2014 Ark. 237, 434 S.W.3d 877. · cites it 4דAppellee also sought attorney’s fees pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated section 28-73-1004 (Repl. 2012). In addition to the 2009 Will and Trust, Appellee also attached as exhibits to her amended complaint her husband’s previous will, dated June 14, 2004 (“the 2004 Will”), the…”
Bank of the Ozarks v. Cossey, 2015 Ark. 367, 471 S.W.3d 203. · cites it 2ד” Ark. Code Ann. § 28-73-1004 . The Bank argues that determining whether it was the trustee did not involve the “administration of a trust.”
Kenneth J. Clark v. Melva Jean Summers, 2021 Ark. App. 109, 619 S.W.3d 886. · cites it 10דSuch a remedy is crucial in a case such as this where, according to the majority, the only limitation on the trustee is the trustee’s good faith in the exercise of his or her unassailable discretion. 13 That latter section provides: In a judicial proceeding involving the…”
Reed v. Smith, 551 S.W.3d 407 (Ark. Ct. App. 2018). · cites it 2דThe Arkansas Trust Code provides that "[in] a judicial proceeding involving the administration of a trust, a court, as justice and equity may require, may award costs and expenses, including reasonable attorney's fees, to any party, to be paid by another party or from the trust…”
Holmbeck v. Solomon, No. 2:19-cv-00154 (E.D. Ark. June 12, 2023). · cites it 10דArkansas’s Trust Code (which is the law applicable to this diversity-jurisdiction case) contains such a fee-shifting provision, codified at Arkansas Code Annotated section 28-73-1004: In a judicial proceeding involving the administration of a trust, a court, as justice and…”
Hartsfield v. Blann, 2013 Ark. App. 487. · cites it 2ד” Ark. Code Ann. § 28-73-1004 (Repl. 2012).”
Hartsfield v. Blann, 2013 Ark. App. 487. · cites it 2ד” Ark. Code Ann. § 28-73-1004 (Repl. 2012).”
King v. Barton, 2023 Ark. App. 388, 675 S.W.3d 458. “Arkansas Code Annotated § 28-73-1004 allows the court to award reasonable attorney’s fees “[i]n a judicial proceeding involving the administration of a trust .”
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