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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 9-263 / 07-2122 Filed July 2, 2009 IN THE MATTER OF THE JOHN F. MCKERNAN, JR. TRUST JUDITH ANN MCKERNAN and BRIAN MCKERNAN, Trustees-Appellees/Cross-Appellants, vs. MONTGOMERY G. MCKERNAN, Beneficiary-Appellant/Cross-Appellee. ________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, Dale E. Ruigh, Judge.

Montgomery McKernan appeals from the district court ruling denying his petition to remove the trustees of the John F. McKernan, Jr. Trust. AFFIRMED.

Montgomery McKernan, Ames, appellant pro se. Theodore F. Sporer and Meghan S. Hanson of Sporer & Flanagan, P.C., Des Moines for appellant/cross-appellee. James L. Spellman of Law Offices of James Spellman, Des Moines, for appellees/cross-appellants.

Heard

by

Vaitheswaran,

P.J.,

and

Potterfield

and

Doyle,

JJ.

2 VAITHESWARAN, P.J. We must decide (1) whether the district court acted equitably in declaring all, rather than some, of John F. McKernan Jr.'s children the beneficiaries of a trust created by him, (2) whether the trustees should have been removed, and (3) whether the district court appropriately denied the trustees ' claim for compensation. I. Background Facts and Proceedings McKernan, the father of seventeen children, executed a trust agreement the day before he died. The agreement named his wife, Judith McKernan, and son, Gregory McKernan, the trustees. Another son, Brian McKernan, was written in as "Manager Trustee." Article I of the trust agreement states in pertinent part: The trustor's minor children now living with him and his wife are Devon C. McKernan, Montgomery G. McKernan, Jennifer K. McKernan and Katrina VanKleeck McKernan. All references hereto to the trustor's child or children shall refer only to the above-named children. Notwithstanding this seemingly clear instruction, another portion of the trust agreement referred to "the children named in Article III." That article listed only Gregory and Brian. A third article of the agreement provided for distribution of the residuary trust to "each then living child of the trustor," as follows: At the death of the trustor's wife, the trustees shall divide the RESIDUARY TRUST, together with property from any other source, into equal shares so as to provide one share for each then living child of the trustor and one share for the then living descendents collectively of each deceased child of the trustor.

3 An attachment to the trust document titled "Schedule B

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