In re Hessler Living Trust, 316 Neb. 600

Michael A. Hessler, decedent, created a trust (the "Michael Hessler Living Trust") for his children.
In 2017, he amended the trust to leave his residence "outright" to his girlfriend, Lori J. Miller, if she lived there at the time of his death, and left the residuary to his three children.
Upon Hessler's death, the successor trustee registered the trust in Scotts Bluff County, conveyed the house to Miller, and allocated all inheritance tax to the trust's residuary.
The children argued inheritance taxes attributable to Miller’s distribution (taxed at a higher rate due to her non-marital status) should come from her share, not from the residuary trust property.
The county court ruled the trust clearly directed that such taxes be paid "from this trust," not separately apportioning them.
The children appealed, raising issues of venue, evidentiary rulings, and proper apportionment of inheritance taxes.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Venue transfer to Scotts Bluff County	Venue should be in Lancaster County, where the real estate and relevant parties were located	Venue proper in Scotts Bluff County, where the trust is registered and trustee resides	Transfer of venue was proper under statute and not an abuse of discretion
Admission of extrinsic evidence (attorney affidavit)	Court erred by admitting parol evidence to interpret the trust, as the trust was unambiguous	The affidavit merely corroborated the decedent’s clear written intent	No reversible error; ruling based on trust language, not affidavit
Apportionment of inheritance taxes	Inheritance tax on Miller’s share should be paid from her distribution, not from the trust's residuary property for the children	Trust expressly directed payment of all inheritance taxes from the trust before distributions	Trust language clear; taxes paid from trust as directed, not apportioned pro rata

In re Estate of Larson, 311 Neb. 352 (inheritance tax is imposed on beneficiaries; default is statutory apportionment unless the testamentary instrument clearly directs otherwise)
In re Estate of Shell, 290 Neb. 791 (language directing payment of estate and inheritance taxes from the estate exonerates beneficiaries from personal liability for such taxes)
In re Hessler Living Trust, 313 Neb. 607 (prior related appeal regarding this trust's administration and finality/jurisdiction)