Ask 2 Lawyers: What if the Trustee Ignores Beneficiary’s Accounting Request

So what if the trustee just ignores my request for a full accounting this happens a lot so it's not uncommon for a trustee to either ignore requests for an accounting provide something that's not a proper accounting it's a single sheet for some reason that's really popular where you request an accounting and the trustee gives you a spreadsheet right and they say here's your accounting or they'll go to an accountant who is not familiar with trustee County because not all of them are and you'll get about a balance sheet and a profit loss statement which would be fantastic if this was a corporation it was terrible as a trust right as it doesn't disclose what you need right so if you're not getting what you're entitled to which is the great news is it's very clear what you're entitled to you go to the probate code 16:06 sixty 1606 one probably Code section 1060 they all have the requirements for an accounting and it's all laid out there black and white there's no guessing game here and so you go to if you're not getting that you have to go to court and you have to ask the court to issue an order and is there any other way to force the trustee to give you an accounting besides going to court well no other legal ways and so the best legal way if a trustee is refusing to provide you with an accounting is to get a court order and the judge is gonna I have I can tell you one thing judges you can't always pin down what a judge or a courts gonna do but I've never had a court say no to a request for an accounting why is that because it's just the best way to make sure that you have full disclosure to the court to the beneficiaries and make sure that there's no unseemly business going on behind the scenes I mean it's just a really easy way to get everything out on the table the other thing I'll tell you is that when you file to get an accounting then you can then you have subpoena power and you know why is that helpful because now I can subpoena bank documents directly and I can subpoena whatever other documents I think would be important to me to better understand what the trust administration has done during the time the trustees been in charge now what's the first thing you do when you receive a trust account you just assume that all information inside of it is accurate no we want to go through it we want to highlight any questionable line items but those line items came from somewhere which you and I call the underlying documents while underlying documents in many cases are going to be the bank statements right and the financial statements in several could you can stand brokerage account statements and so if once we have filed that petition to compel the accounting we've now reversed this whole process remember we started this process with a trustee not giving a beneficiary information and then when they did give information it wasn't good information and they told the beneficiary you have 60 days right so they're attacking they're going after this beneficiary well now the beneficiary has turned it around and with precedent saying here's the Probate Code section you got to give me an accounting pristy says screw you not going to give you the accounting and so then the beneficiary files a petition or there's it the court orders it and you as a beneficiary now have subpoena power to go and get the underlying documents that were used to create that accounting directly from the banks and brokerage account so you're not relying on the trustee handing them over you're gonna go to the bank directly then look at you've changed the position from where we started this case with the trustee in charge in an asymmetrical relationship where the trustee has all the information and is in a very paternalistic stance telling that the beneficiary of what they can account have and all the power and all the power and now the beneficiary has turned it and now the trustee realizes oh my word they're going after the bank records and the bank has to respond and right but the only way to turn those tables is to go to court there's no other way to get subpoena power there's no other way to hold the trustee accountable there's no other way to get an order from the core ordering the trustee to act the filing in court is so critically important for beneficiaries in these case it is albertson and Davidson is here to help you fight for your inheritance check out Alda law calm for our complete library of helpful legal videos and articles from your favorite California trust and we'll litigation law firm Albertson and Davidson LLP.