The duty of loyalty is one of the most basic, and important, trustee duties (Probate Code section 16002). At its core, the duty of loyalty requires the Trustee to administer the trust solely in the interest of the beneficiaries. That means the Trustee must do what is right for the beneficiaries in all situations. Duty of Loyalty […]
Can a trustee loan money to a trust? There are times when a Trust may be land-rich, but cash-poor. Or maybe the Trust owns a business, financial investments, or any other type of asset that cannot be easily sold. How does the Trustee pay bills and expenses when there is no cash to pay from? […]
If a trustee sells a trust asset, can you reverse that sale? The initial answer is no. Trustees are given the power, usually under the trust document but also under California trust law, to sell trust property at their choosing. And since Trustees have the power to sell trust assets, there is no way to […]
If you are a Trustee beneficiary who is having problems with your Trustee, you need to file for help in the probate court. To file, you bring a petition under section 17200, which gives the court the power to issue orders regarding the internal affairs of the Trust. Section 17200 provides a long list of […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 Trust. In other words, a […]
