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Morris v. Morris

The trial court erred in ruling that North Carolina law governed the issue of distribution of trust property when the settlor was living in North Carolina at the time he killed his only lineal descendant before committing suicide.

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Martha L. Morris, a resident of Georgia, is the sole surviving trustee of the Derek Morris Irrevocable Trust the “Trust”. The Trust was created in Georgia by Martha’s son Derek Morris as settlor in 19981 and has been located and managed in Georgia since that time. Derek funded the Trust with the proceeds of the settlement he received as a result of the litigation that ensued following a 1995 automobile collision in which he and other family members were seriously injured. Derek’s 11-year-old sister lost her life.

Derek married his wife, appellee Sarah Morris, in 2004. The couple had one daughter, Iza Lily Morris, who was born while they were living in Atlanta. The couple moved to North Carolina in 2005. At the time of Derek’s death, he and Sarah were estranged, and Sarah was living with her family in Georgia, but traveling back and forth to North Carolina. Unable to reach Iza Lily or her husband by telephone, Sarah returned to North Carolina. That afternoon she found Derek and Iza Lily in Iza Lily’s bedroom in the couple’s home. Both were dead from gunshot wounds fired by Derek first shooting Iza Lily then himself. Sarah was appointed the administrator of her decedent daughter’s estate. In that capacity, she filed a wrongful death action against the Estate of Derek Morris which resulted in a default judgment in favor of the daughter’s estate in an amount not of record.

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