Leone Hall Price died in 2001. Under the terms of her will, the Leone Hall Price Foundation Foundation, a private inter vivos charitable trust, was the principal beneficiary. Both the will and the trust instrument were executed shortly before Ms. Price died. The trust agreement did not name any specific beneficiaries, but provided that its general purpose was to promote education, historical restoration and preservation, ecological, geological and the environmental projects in Bartow County, Carroll County, Cherokee County, Cobb County, Douglas County, Fulton County and Paulding County, Georgia. The will and trust instrument were drafted by attorney Hubert Holland, who was named as the executor of the will and, along with his wife, a co-trustee of the Foundation. Three of the testatrix’s seven heirs-at-law filed caveats, alleging undue influence on the part of Mr. Holland. The probate court ordered the parties to attempt to negotiate a settlement. Pursuant to a consent order, the Attorney General intervened to represent the interests of the potential beneficiaries of the Foundation. OCGA § 53-12-115. The State Revenue Commissioner also participated in the negotiations. OCGA § 53-12-116. An agreement was submitted to the probate court for its approval. However, the Foundation, acting through Mr. and Mrs. Holland in their capacities as co-trustees, filed an objection. The probate court approved the settlement over the objection, and the Foundation, again acting through its co-trustees, filed a notice of appeal. Those who consented to the agreement, including the Attorney General and Revenue Commissioner, are hereinafter denominated collectively as Appellees. 1. Appellees have filed a motion to dismiss, contending that the Foundation does not have standing to bring this appeal.
A “trust can act only through its trustees . . . .” Wammock v. Smith , 143 Ga. App. 186, 187 1 237 SE2d 668 1977. Here, the Foundation, acting through Mr. and Mrs. Holland, sought to object to the settlement, but the probate court held that approval by the trust and its trustees was unnecessary under OCGA § 53-5-25. In their representative capacities, the co-trustees filed a notice of appeal on behalf of the Foundation, and the style of that document is not determinative of appellate jurisdiction. Bagwell v. Henson , 124 Ga. App. 92, 93 1 183 SE2d 485 1971. The enumerations of error assert that the probate court erred because the Foundation is a beneficiary of the will whose consent was not obtained in accordance with the requirements of OCGA § 53-5-25. A party who sought unsuccessfully to intervene in a proceeding can appeal from the final judgment entered therein. Astin v. Callahan , 222 Ga. App. 226, 228 2 474 SE2d 81 1996. Therefore, the trust, acting through Mr. and Mrs. Holland, has standing to contest the ruling that its consent was not necessary under the statute, and Appellees’ motion to dismiss is hereby denied. Cf. Wammock v. Smith , supra at 186 1.
