Court of Appeals enforces settlement

The various beneficiaries of a family of trust agreements were embroiled in litigation in Wexford County.  The case was captioned In re: Donald K. Egelus Living Trust, and the parties eventually worked out a settlement that was described in court before being reduced to writing.  Some of the beneficiaries apparently had second thoughts before signing off, however, and refused to execute the settlement documents.  The trial court eventually approved the settlement over their objections and the Court of Appeals affirmed this week.  The higher court noted the strong public policy in favor of settlement, and emphasized that the subsequent objections raised by the dissenting parties dealt with less than 3 percent of the total value in controversy.  The Court also noted that the 3 percent "error" raised by the dissenters was balanced by errors that actually worked to their benefit.