Trusts Legal Questions

I don't practice in NY so take this for what it's worth.  In order to determine your rights, you must review the Trust document itself.  Does it give you the right to separate your share from your other siblings and perhaps have it managed separately but still in trust?  Does it give you the right to terminate the trust and for you to take distribution of your share?  No one can answer your question without reviewing the trust document.  What's the dispute?  Do you just need the money or is there mismanagement?  Mismanagement can be addressed w/o breaking the trust.  Maybe you can even replace the trustee -- most states read into the trust the ability of the beneficiaries to replace the trustee.  It's usually a tough battle unless you can get all other interested parties on board with a plan.... Read More

I think the first place to look for a process would be the bylaws of your organization.  You can probably ask for a meeting of your leadership to address the problem or even a meeting of the members to address the situation.  So look to your internal operating rules first.  You have a very limited right to file a cause of action on behalf of the church against the trustees. ... Read More

Anyone can contest a Will.  Usually the basis of a hcallenge is undue influence, that someone influenced the person to write the will a specific way, or lack of testamentary capacity, meaning the person did not have the capacity to understand the Will.  A Will challenge is brought in the County in which the decedent lived when they passed away.  ... Read More

Planning with IRAs can be complicated for estate planning.  There are many reasons why you might want to have a marital deduction trust.  Usually its to avoid federal estate tax.  You'd have to have a huge IRA to have a federal estate tax issue.  If your IRA is not over $5 million (and yours would be the first I've ever seen if it is), you probably don't need a hard-set marital deduction trust in your estate plan for tax purposes.  Typically when faced with your situation, I would create a disclaimer trust in your will so that your wife can take stock of your assets and decide what she wants to retain and what makes sense to put into a disclaimer trust.  That way, you avoid any unnecessary tax issues involving the IRA.  I'd need to know a lot more about your assets in order to give you more specific advice. ... Read More

I assume your husband lived in California when he passed away.  The answer depends on whether the property was separate property or quasi-community property.  As the suviving spouse, you are entitled to a portion of the separate property, and all quasi-community property.  Your case would have to be initiated in California, and any judgment brought to the other state for enforcement.  Does this sound complicated?  It is.  Contact an attorney for a full consultation.... Read More

As long as your grandmother still has enough mental competency to make a new Power of Attorney, then she is free to do so at any time. And, if there's some guy that she doesn't remember who claims that he's her Power of Attorney agent, then she may well need to make a new one as soon as possible, and to let everyone she may have contact with know that they should not honor the document that he is presenting. At that point, if she makes a new one in favor of your dad, the other person will have to try to prove that she validly appointed him and that she does not have the capacity to make a new one. If she does not currently have enough competency to make a new Power of Attorney, then your father may need to seek to have himself appointed as her conservator and guardian (in Georgia, conservator has power over someone's financial and economic affairs while guardian has power over health care issues) and to have that existing Power of Attorney revoked. Your grandmother (or your father, if needed) should consult a good estate planning attorney as soon as possible.... Read More

You may have already gathered that this is a complex issue.  The characterization of separate or community property sounds simple, but is full of exceptions and can change with the circumstances.   The trustee only has power over the assets of the trust.  The trustee may not have power over funds not in the trust or over community property funds. The very best thing that you can do is to contact an attorney for a full consultation.... Read More

Call the attorney that filed the estate. Or look at the clerk's probate website online. Or go to the courthouse and check out the probate file. There are certain filings you can make to make sure you are notified, but if your brother was appointed PR (executor) then you probably should have gotten some type of notice. Note: You should make sure that an estate was actually opened. The will naming your brother as executor doesn't automatically entitle him to be the executor. The court must appoint an executor... Read More