- 45 - trust to exercise such care and skill as a man of ordinary prudence would exercise in dealing with his own property”. In addition, Ga. Code Ann. section 53-12-194(a) (1997) provides that “No provision in a trust instrument is effective to relieve the trustee of liability for breach of trust committed in bad faith or intentionally or with reckless indifference to the interest of the beneficiary”. Based on these pronouncements, we believe that Georgia courts would limit the trustee’s administrative powers to a sufficient extent to prevent their jeopardizing the income beneficiary’s interest. See also Rev. Rul. 69-56, 1969-1 C.B. 224; Rev. Rul. 66-39, 1966-1 C.B. 223 (each sanctioning similar grants of trustee authority in a marital deduction context). We also note that the above-described powers are set forth in Item XII of the 1970 will and are applicable to “every trust” created by the will. Accordingly, the trust terms grant to the trustee such powers in managing both the Item IV and the Item V trusts. Yet respondent has stipulated that the Item IV trust qualifies for the marital deduction under section 2056(b)(5), which statute contains an identical all income payable annually element. Respondent has not, however, offered any evidence that the State courts would impose reasonable limitations in the one context andPage: Previous 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 Next
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