What Happens If a Trustee Refuses to Give a Beneficiary Money? | RMO Lawyers
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- čas přidán 11. 08. 2021
- The person who sets up a trust appoints one or more trustees to manage the trust assets for the benefit of the trust’s beneficiaries. According to California Probate Code §16000, trustees have a legal obligation to follow the instructions outlined in the trust instrument when administering the trust. As part of this duty, trustees must distribute money and other assets to beneficiaries according to the directives of the trust document.
0:00 Introduction
0:01 What Happens If a Trustee Refuses to Give a Beneficiary Money?
1:32 Can a trustee refuse to pay a beneficiary?
3:07 When can a beneficiary sue a trustee?
4:46 When should I contact a trust litigation attorney?
FULL ARTICLE: rmolawyers.com/what-happens-i...
Trustees need to thoroughly review the trust instructions to determine when distributions should or need to take place and how much money each beneficiary should receive. The requirements will vary widely among trusts, so we recommend that trustees review and discuss the terms of the instrument with a knowledgeable trust lawyer to ensure they comply.
Sometimes, a beneficiary demands money a trustee is not permitted to distribute from the trust. Other times, however, trustees refuse to give a beneficiary money they are entitled to or the trustee has the discretion to distribute. In the first case, the failure to distribute likely would be a breach. In the second, case the failure to distribute might be a breach, depending on the nature of the discretion given to the trustee - e.g. discretion, sole discretion, or sole and absolute discretion. If a trustee is refusing to distribute funds or a beneficiary is demanding distributions a trustee is unsure should be made, trust dispute counsel should be consulted.
Can a trustee refuse to pay a beneficiary?
Yes, a trustee can refuse to pay a beneficiary if the trust allows them to do so.
Whether a trustee can refuse to pay a beneficiary depends on how the trust document is written. Trustees are legally obligated to comply with the terms of the trust when distributing assets. Some trusts give trustees considerable discretion to determine when to make distributions and how much to distribute. In most cases, trustees with this level of authority would be able to refuse to pay a beneficiary if they reasonably believed the request was unreasonable.
Other trusts place restrictions on when trustees can make distributions, such as the beneficiary satisfying certain conditions or reaching a particular age. If a beneficiary demands a distribution when the trust instructions preclude it, the trustee must refuse to pay the beneficiary.
However, if the trustee’s refusal to pay a beneficiary is not allowed or justified by the trust’s instructions, beneficiaries have legal options. They may be able to pursue a lawsuit for breach of fiduciary duty, petition to instruct the trustee to make the requested distribution, or petition the court to have the trustee removed. Often we hear that a trust does not have sufficient assets to make a requested distribution, in which case it may be necessary to ask the trustee to provide an accounting report to the trust beneficiaries, either informally or formally through the courts.
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Love how our questions are answered in our comments!
Thank you for providing excellent questions with thorough and detailed ans
Are trustees obligated to be transparent and forthcoming with beneficiaries about accounting and terms? I'm the beneficiary and didn't even know my trust existed for two years, and now the trustees are not complying in giving me a full record of the accounting.
I inherited a condo from my dad & im now suing that trustee, however this is taking five years. I did all this is I’m still fighting it, I’m frustrated & I’m only a beneficiary
Who is the trustee? Why u suing?
The trustee is my brother & sister, they refused to give money. The attorney hired by the two trustees this is for my dads trust. The attorney has been given more of my money than I received & on my birthday this attorney was paid. My brother was paid more than I was & now I’m homeless
@@mariekrekora9958 Wow 😯 I am so sorry to hear this! I’m going through hell right now as well because my brother is the trustee and is self stealing and refused to give me any money and kept it all for himself and my dad‘s trust and will stated everything is supposed to be 50-50 between us but my brother has kept 97% of EVERYTHING!!! I literally only got 7 medium boxes and 3 pieces of furniture out of a 2 story home with a 4 car garage. Absolutely insane how people turn evil when someone passes away and they turn greedy and selfish!!! I see you made this comment 8 months ago, I pray 🙏 that your situation has been resolved! ♥️♥️♥️
@@mariekrekora9958 I can't believe how family can turn so evil. Some of my enemies treated me better than family!
@@mariekrekora9958 do you know for absoulute certain you are truly the only beneficiary? having three kids that just seems unlikely to a degree.
What happen if your parents didn’t set the time they wanted do on the documents and want to withdraw out sooner then the date ? How does that work out
My grandparents have been embezzling money from my trust while leaving me homeless 12 years since I turned old enough to receive it and I don’t know what to do. I have 3 small children and live with their abusive father.
I've been to the library and still can not find the meaning of "Ancillary fiduciary". Any thoughts? 02/16/2024 . . . .
Judge didn't release my trust fund when I turned 19. I Wrote him 3 times. It's been a year now. And his secretaries keep saying he haven't released the funds yet. What's going on
Can the trust be changed or forged by the trustee ?
Do you do work in salt lake city?
Can the co-owner of my fathers bank account ( my sister ) take all the money out after father passes away, even though in the trust it says to share funds with the brother? Can she not honor that if she doesn't want to? She has power of attorney and living trustee..( i think. I know she controls everything)
My sister always raises hell when i ask about our fathers trust.
And my dad is very vague when explaining details of the trust.
Soo its not looking good for me. And i've never stolen or screwed them over in any way.
My sister has never been tight with me since kids 😔
Thanks so much for your help🤝
You should have to be a licensed trustee. People with no experience and potential biases should never be handling a large amount of assets. That is why relatives should not be allowed to be a trustees; unless they are the sole beneficiary. I cannot believe this is 2023 and it is still a major problem. Unbiased third party with no skin in game and the proper expertise is the only way to go.
You are 100% right…going through this crap with an asshole brother
@@stevestich4991
I made a very big mistake when I turned down multiple requests for me to be the trustee.
My mother wanted me to handle her trust after she passed, I declined numerous times and said that I would be fine if my brother was trustee.
We had never argued or even called each other a bad name of course I trust him.
After my mother passed he became someone I didn’t know.
He took everything he wanted including cleaning out my mother’s bank account everything, nothing was disturbed to me and I am the only beneficiary besides him.
I haven’t spoken with him in over two years he refuses to get back to me like I never existed.
I figure he has had enough time to think that he’s gotten away with what he can so to speak.
I fully agree that relatives should not be in charge when a family member passes.
What if a parent did a trust and let the person who needs to educate the trust to share there IRa with another sibling when one beneficiary is only list and that person said ok, but then sees they are the only one listed as beneficiary with that parents life insurance and company shares. Also the other sibling knows of those accounts does that single beneficiary have to share or just what’s 50/50 that’s in trust? Can she sue me because she assumed the other accounts were here’s too, when when parent passed away seen they were left just for me?
The person who needs to educate the trust??? The way you have all this worded makes it Super confusing so I’m sure that’s why you’ve never received a reply. You should edit it and reword it properly so it makes sense. It’s been six months so hopefully you’ve gotten all of this figured out by now. Good luck.
So far the trust litigation attornys ive contacted want $5 to$7500 retainer soooo...
Bottom line is the trustee can self deal refuse to give a beneficiary any information regarding the trust can also distribute trust assets to whoever they choose completely ignoring the trust beneficiary.
The trustee can completely ignore the trust beneficiary and keep all the trust assets to themselves.
So if your a beneficiary and the trustee refuses to give you any information or distribute any assets.
Don’t waste your money hiring an attorney because it will only make you poorer, save your money your going to need it to survive.
Your right, Judges, Special master attorneys don't do thing except delegate authority and charge for wasting your time. (Receive review and respond)
@@stevenhinrichs5153
I fully agree
lies
If you can show breach on fiduciary duties then you can request removal of trustee
@@michaelhawkins2318
Be very careful the trust may have language stating that if a beneficiary tries to remove the trustee that beneficiary automatically loses their inheritance.
So I would advise that if a beneficiary has a conflict with the trust, trustee or other beneficiaries to have the will / trust or both explained to them by a trust litigation attorney the average person will not be able to interpret the language that has been drawn up by attorneys.
So the first step would be to have a qualified attorney explain what you can and cannot do before you even think about filing anything.
Also do not sign anything that you don’t understand because you might end up signing all of your rights away.
When the principal passes is when the greed starts unfortunately.
My stepmom basically neglected my father's dementia and he in my opinion murdered him
As soon as he was gone she turned evil. At the funeral home, she had no money for his services even though she told me years ago his military burial was all taken care of and not to worry. I asked if we could use his SOLE credit card because she was using it and signing his name anyway. She said, "Do you want me to go to jail? I can't use his card, he's dead!" I paid for his military service. She told me year ago they had a trust and if something happens me and her daughter are the beneficiaries. I asked for my copy but she never gave me one. I asked again after he died. I tried helping her. I called social security for her and gave her a checklist of who she has to notify. She said her daughter is helping. She told me she is selling their property for 500,000 dollars and moving to Arizona with her same daughter and if I want any of his junk I better come up and get it.
I am disabled and have no kids or anyone since I moved here to be closer to my father. I don't drive and she didn't let me even grieve. She gave away, sold or threw away 90 years of his possessions.
In 3 months she had the home sold and in Arizona! The sale closed on my father's birthday! Unbelievable!
I discovered she maxed out that credit card she said she couldn't use, 6 000 dollars! I notified Chase bank that she made fraudulent charges AFTER my father died and she moved to Arizona without making any payments! They credited his account I wanted her charged for fraud! She didn't take his name off of their utilities and let them run into collections, DMV wasn't notified, in fact she got rid of my 1969 Ford f250, a tractor that I bought my father and a utility trailer I gave him! She only notified social security so she would get his monthly income because she only received 700 a month. My father paid her medical insurance and everything else. She dragged him to Jackson Rancheria every Monday and gambled with his money! She didn't pay for his hospital or ambulance bill either. I've tried to get an attorney but haven't had any luck. She didn't do her fiduciary duty one bit! She committed fraud by charging 6.000 dollars on it AFTER he died! He's been gone 10 months today. I'm sure she paid off her daughter's house by now and there's nothing I can do about it.
If your dad had a will or a trust it should be filed with the state that he was living in and you can go to the courthouse and request it.
Going through a similar issue.
@@GodsChild145 No the only way I can get a copy is from her, the successor trustee.
@@Lisa-dp6qw sorry you are going through that and I wish you the best of luck
I have never been notified about anything from my dad's Will My sister took business and everything.
We tried this only to have a chicken attorney bale on us when his DIY RLT cost a quarter litigation. Rather than the CRCRC NICE5 Prebate Probate Premium Pragmatic Paralegals Putting Parent’s needs ahead of their own at NICER. Take that Johnathan Penn Life 3P limited salesperson.
My cousin is my grandma truste she thinks it’s ok to take $5,0000 and not pay her back
Can the trustee steal the money from a trust ?
Is that a trick question lol stealing it’s never OK in any situation
Embezzle?
Good morning congratulations NICER Traditional Law Model Arbiter validation certification triple title transparent administration avoids this mess with timely bank distributions.
I don’t agree on that I know I was wronged, I know for a fact. I was left out of my money & now it’s they get away with all the money. Why did I hire this expensive attorney & take my money. Take my house & condo, I’m homeless
Cesteque Trust? Breach of our ss TRUSTS!!!
How do I get a lawyers help?
Call on or Use the email address they have in the last 10 seconds of this video where they tell you to use that to contact them lol
@@GodsChild145
So they cover all 50 states ?
This is a scam.
How so?