Blog Posts About Trustee Breach

There are times when a Trustee causes damage to a Trust estate. When that occurs, you have the right to ask the court to issue a surcharge against the Trustee. That’s a complicated way of saying you want the court to order the Trustee to pay money back to the…

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…

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 an outright distribution…

If you have a bad Trustee who mismanaged assets, misappropriated them, or just stole them, you may be wondering how to find the money.  That is a good question, and not always easy to answer.  Of course, much depends on how the money was taken, or whether the money was…

There are a few exceptions to a Trustee’s duty to provide you with a Trust accounting no matter what type of beneficiary you happen to be. Where the Trust Document Waives an Accounting. If the Trust document waives an accounting, then a Trustee does not have to provide an accounting. …

You are entitled to an accounting…maybe…depends.  The truth is some beneficiaries are entitled to an accounting as a matter of right, while other beneficiaries may obtain an accounting at the discretion of the Court, but not as a matter of right. Right to Reasonable Information For starters, all beneficiaries are…

Being named a successor Trustee does not necessarily obligate you to take action.  While it is true that Trustees have a host of duties and responsibilities, those duties don’t arise until a Trustee agrees to act.  Being named a successor Trustee in a Trust document does not obligate that person…

Simply put, no.  A Trustee is considered the legal owner of all Trust assets.  And as the legal owner, the Trustee has the right to manage the Trust assets unilaterally, without direction or input from the beneficiaries.  In fact, that is the purpose of having a Trustee in the first…