Infectious invalidity means that the failure of certain transfers may cause interests that are otherwise valid to fail also. This approach was taken inInNew England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...Trust Co. v. Sanger, 337 Mass. 342, 149 N.E.2d 598 (1958). A trust provided for income to be paid to the surviving children of the settlor's brother for life, and on the death of the last surviving child of the settlor's brother, an equal division of the trust principle was to be made among the issue of the children of the settlor's brother. The gift to the issue of the brother's children failed, because the ascertainment of issue could not be made until the brother's children died, and the brother might have children born after the creation of the trust who might not die within the permissible period. However, a later trust had been established by the settlor, which stated that if any provision in the first trust indenture should be declared invalid, any income or principal which reverted to his estate should be deemed held in trust by the settlor for the benefit of his brother's children and their issue. Applying the doctrine of infectious invalidity to avoid a distortion of the settlor's "clear desire," the court held that the second trust should govern the trust distribution. It stated that by striking down all the gifts, valid and invalid, made in the first trust, and by giving effect to the second trust, the settlor's plan for the income gifts was substantially carried out. � 1.5 comment 7
References
Property law in the United States American legal terminology Real property law {{US-law-stub