Also known as: unforeseen changes in circumstances · change of circumstances
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A post-execution or post-formation event that the parties did not reasonably anticipate when creating a legal instrument. Such an event may support equitable relief such as contract modification without fresh consideration or trustee removal when the change is substantial and renders the original terms unfair or impracticable.
Ulf Ulfsson executed a will leaving his auto-repair business to his former apprentice Wesley. Years later Wesley was convicted of embezzling from the shop and the two never reconciled. Ulf died without executing a new will. Wesley claims the shop under the original instrument. The court holds that the conviction and estrangement constitute an unforeseen change in circumstances that does not revoke the bequest.
Lena created an irrevocable trust holding largely Horizon Bank stock and named Horizon Trust Company as trustee. After regulatory scandals sharply reduced the bank's stability, all qualified beneficiaries petitioned for removal and appointment of Summit Trust. The court finds a substantial change of circumstances, determines that removal best serves the beneficiaries and is consistent with trust purposes, and grants the petition because a suitable successor is available.
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Builder and owner had a fixed-price construction contract with substantial performance remaining when a long-term highway closure doubled material-hauling costs. The parties executed a written modification raising the price by 18 percent. The court enforces the modification without fresh consideration because the closure was an unforeseen change in circumstances that made the original terms impracticable.
No. Under the governing statute a change of circumstances does not revoke a will or any part of it except in the narrow situations addressed by sections on divorce and homicide.
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A court may remove a trustee when all qualified beneficiaries request removal, a substantial change of circumstances has occurred, removal best serves the interests of all beneficiaries, removal is not inconsistent with a material purpose of the trust, and a suitable successor is available.
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Yes. When both parties still have substantial performance remaining and an unanticipated event such as a long-term highway closure materially increases costs, a written modification that fairly adjusts the price is enforceable even without fresh consideration.
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No. When the separation agreement expressly precludes modification of non-child terms and the court incorporates that clause into the decree after finding the agreement not unconscionable, the statute bars later modification regardless of subsequent hardship.
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…nearly half his property in manufacturing stock, was entitled to great consideration and respect, and would, without any change of circumstances, have a strong tendency to justify the selection of the manufacturing stock as part of the trust fund. We cannot think with the counsel for the appellants, that the dividend of fourteen…