I want to address professional trustee’s fees. These are different than lay trustee fees. A lay trustee is a brother or sister or somebody else in the family that is named trustee. A professional trustee is generally a large bank, or it’s a large company that holds themselves out as professional trustees. The question is, […]
We get this question routinely. We have Beneficiaries of a Trust come to us and say, “My brother or sister is the Trustee of the Trust and they’re saying they’re going to take $150,000 in Trustee’s fees. Is that allowed?” And the answer is, “Well, it depends.” And, of course, it depends on the facts and circumstances in the […]
Can a trustee be removed as trustee of a trust? Yes, but it is difficult to remove a trustee. Generally, you must have an evidentiary hearing, which is a trial. It takes time to remove a Trustee. You must go through the litigation process from start to finish before a trial can take place. The […]
There are times when you know something has gone wrong with your Trust administration. Perhaps the Trustee is not making proper Trust investments, is not managing Trust assets properly, or is outright stealing from the Trust. At times, the harm caused by a Trustee can be less obvious, such as living in a home owned by […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 ever part of the Trust to begin […]
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. This is an important exception, so […]
