Wells Lory Hillblom v. Wilmington Trust Company, C.A. No. 2021-1034-MTZ

Wells Lory Hillblom sued his trustee, Wilmington Trust Company, for breaching fiduciary duties by mishandling a decades-long fee dispute with his former guardianship lawyers over ARW-related fees. 1
The Trust Agreement required WTC to use trust assets to pay estate-related legal fees, to resolve or defend claims, and to act as a fiduciary under prudent-person standards. 2
WTC paid S&P on earlier cash distributions but never valued ARW or resolved the fee methodology dispute over ARW's non-cash interest and later cash distributions. 3
In 2016 S&P offered to settle all ARW fee claims for $300,000, but WTC ignored the offer and did not tell Hillblom about it when he was later left to defend S&P's arbitration claim himself. 4
Hillblom ultimately settled S&P's arbitration claim for $1.4 million in 2020, then sued WTC in 2021 for breach of trust and fiduciary duty. 5
After trial, the Court held Hillblom's claims were timely, WTC breached its duties in bad faith, and Hillblom could recover damages and attorneys' fees. 6

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Were Hillblom's claims time-barred? 7	September 2019 documents gave no reason to distrust WTC.	The September 2019 production triggered inquiry notice.	No; Hillblom lacked inquiry notice and the claims are timely. 8
Did WTC breach its fiduciary duties? 9	WTC ignored payment, failed to disclose the settlement offer, and abandoned Hillblom.	WTC acted within discretion and without bad faith.	Yes; WTC knowingly failed to pay, inform, and defend in bad faith. 10
What relief is Hillblom entitled to? 11	He should recover the excess settlement amount, interest, and fees.	Damages were unsupported and untethered to ARW value.	Hillblom gets $1.1 million plus interest and attorneys' fees. 12
Was Hillblom's failure-to-pay claim waived? 13	The claim was fully briefed and tried.	Hillblom omitted it in post-trial briefing.	No; the claim was preserved and litigated. 14

Hardy v. Hardy, 806 A.2d 164 (Del. 2002) (elements of breach of fiduciary duty 15)
McNeil v. McNeil, 798 A.2d 503 (Del. 2002) (trustee's duties to furnish information and act impartially are separate fiduciary duties 16)
Coleman v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLC, 854 A.2d 838 (Del. 2004) (inquiry notice and justifiable reliance on trusted professionals depend on the facts 17)
Isaacson, Stolper & Co. v. Artisan's Sav. Bank, 330 A.2d 130 (Del. 1974) (discovery rule turns on actual notice and justified reliance 18)
In re Dean Witter P'ship Litig., 725 A.2d 441 (Del. 1999) (inquiry notice when underlying information is readily available 19)
Hogg v. Walker, 622 A.2d 648 (Del. 1993) (equitable relief and interest awards in breach-of-trust cases 20)