Trustee compensation can be a tricky issue. Most Trust documents do not specify an amount for Trustee compensation. And even the California Probate Code states that Trustee compensation must be “reasonable” (see Section 15681), but what is reasonable? First, let’s consider situations where a Trustee is not entitled to compensation at all because that may […]
Many times, a Trustee will get themselves into trouble because they will take some action that is a conflict of interest. A Trustee is a fiduciary of the Trust. That means that they owe a duty to the Trust and to the Trust beneficiaries to treat them fairly, to do the right thing. And one […]
How do you handle bad trustees? We do many, many consults with clients where they come in and say: “I’m the beneficiary of a trust, I have a right to these assets, and the trustee’s refusing to distribute those assets to me; what am I to do?” Many people think that we, as lawyers, can […]
How do you handle a bad Trustee who refuses to communicate with you? One of the biggest problems we see for Trust beneficiaries is that their Trustee simply doesn’t communicate with them. The Trustee may not tell you what the assets of the Trust are, may not explain what the investments are, may refuse to talk […]
Must you always go to court to receive your inheritance under a trust? For example, say that you’re the 50% beneficiary of a Trust, but the Trustee refuses to distribute your assets to you. It’s been three years since your Mom or Dad passed away and there’s no reason for your sibling, the Trustee, to […]
We have used the term abused beneficiary for many years now. When we refer to an abused beneficiary, we mean a Trust or Will beneficiary that has been denied their rightful inheritance in some fashion. There are two main types of abused beneficiaries, which we refer to as vested and non-vested beneficiaries. Vested Beneficiaries: Recognizing […]
Somewhere out there is a common misconception that a revocable, living Trust cannot be contested in court. That’s false. You can go to the courthouse in any county in California today and find thousands upon thousands of Trust contest cases. By Trust contest case, we mean a lawsuit to try to invalidate or set aside […]
If a Trustee commits a breach of Trust, or threatens to do so, California law allows a beneficiary or a co-Trustee to take action. What action can you take? That depends on the type of breach committed. Under Probate Code section 16420, the court is authorized to take the following actions: Compel the Trustee to perform his […]
Statutes of limitations are the deadlines by which you must file a lawsuit. We are seeing more and more people miss the filing deadline in the California Trust and Will Litigation arena. We think the reason this is occurring is because the statutes of limitations for Trust and Will issues are complicated. There is not […]
Does a beneficiary have to sign a release? Under Probate Code section 16004.5, a Trustee cannot require a beneficiary to sign a release in exchange for making a distribution of Trust assets, provided that the Trust distribution is required to be made as stated in the Trust document. For example, if you are entitled to […]
