Trusts Legal Questions

Hello.  As a beneficiary of a Trust, you are entitled to certain information as required by Michigan law.  The Trustee of the Trust is required to notify you within 63 days of their appointment that you are a beneficiary, provide a description of what your beneficial interest is, and should provide an inventory of all of the assets.   Generally, you should also be entitled to receive regular accountings and/or reasonably request them.... Read More

If your sister only has Power of Attorney, as opposed to being appointed your guardian, you may revoke that power at any time, and I encourage you to do so immediately.  Additionally, if your sister did not act in your best interest, she may be liable for any damage she caused for breach of fiduciary duty.    I trust this answers your questions and, if you live in the Delaware Valley, feel free to call or email me on a free initial basis.   Best Regards,   Matthew R. Nahrgang, Esquire 35 Evansburg Road, Ste 400 Collegeville, PA 19426 (610) 489-3041 o (610) 489-3042 fax nahrganglaw.com... Read More

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your father.   In preparing an estate tax return (IRS Form 706), all assets in which your father owned an interest at the time of his death would generally be listed on the return. If the trusts were created under the terms of his Will using assets he owned in accounts at his death, then you don't really list the trusts on the estate tax return (except as beneficiaries), but you would normally include the assets he owned at his death that go into the trusts as part of his gross estate. I can't tell you whether the trusts you actually have should be listed on an estate tax return or not, though, because there are a lot of factors that would go into that determination and I don't have access to all of that information here.   Your post also raises a larger issue that I want to address: You do not file an IRS Form 706 to "close out" an estate; at least not in the typical sense of "closing out" an estate. If an IRS Form 706 is required (and from your post I cannot tell you whether an IRS Form 706 was required for your father's estate or not), then filing it and waiting for it to be accepted and a closing letter issued, or for 3 years to pass since it was filed, is part of the estate administration but it is far from the last thing you would do. The last tax return typically filed before an estate is closed out (after the administration has mostly been completed) is an INCOME tax return (IRS Form 1041), NOT an estate tax return. It could be that I'm just not understanding exactly what you have done and are trying to do now, and of course I have nowhere near enough information about the estate to know what you should have or may already have done, but it sounds like you might be trying to do the wrong thing.   If you do not have a probate attorney helping you with your father's estate, please consult one as soon as possible before you file any estate tax return on IRS Form 706. You may be wasting time and money filing something you don't need to file, and you may be overlooking steps that you should be taking. This kind of forum is not designed for anyone to be able to tell you what you should actually do in any given legal situation- that requires a lot more information than can or should be discussed in a public forum like this one.   Best wishes to you.  ... Read More

That depends.  From the way you've worded your question, I assume that your sister passed away after your mom.  If your mom left the house to your and your sister as joint tenants (which means that the house goes to the survivor), you would now own all of it.  However, if your mom left it to you and your sister as tenants in common, which is more common, it means that each of you owned half of the house, and your sister's would now pass to her heirs.  If she had a will, her half of the house would go to whomever she left it to in her will.  If not, it would pass by the laws of intestasy, and whether you would get her half of the house depends on what other relatives she left behind.  Spouse?  Children?  Other siblings? As you can see, the issue gets complicated, probably too complicated for this forum.  You may want to consult a local estate attorney.... Read More

Most people do not leave their grandchildren anything. They leave their assets to their kids and hope that their kids will leave anything that's left to their own children (the decedent's grandchildren) when they die. And, frankly, most people don't leave anything to kids OR grandkids who are in prison, because they're afraid their hard-earned savings will just go to the state Victim's Compensation Board. You've asked, and received an answer. You could demand a copy of your grandmother's trust. But your mother has the right to respond to what she might see as an entitled attitude by cutting you out of her own will or trust.... Read More

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your father. As for your question, 4 years can be a long time to hold an estate, but it may actually be a fairly reasonable amount of time. Whether it's reasonable or not depends a lot on what assets became part of the estate and whether an estate tax return was filed. If an estate tax return is filed, it can take up to 3 years after the filing, and the filling itself can take1 1/2 years after the death even if the return is filed on time. Without knowing a lot more about the situation, I can't say whether 4 years is reasonable in your father's estate, but it's certainly not impossible for it to take 4 or more years to wrap up and estate.   As for your question about getting information: An attorney for the executor, in Georgia at least, is not the attorney for the beneficiaries. If the attorney communicates with a beneficiary of the estate, the attorney generally is required to either (1) speak with the beneficiary's attorney, if the beneficiary has one, or (2) only provide the beneficiary with very limited information, being careful not to provide legal advice. You may have better luck asking the Executor directly- the Executor is not as restrained as the attorney is. However, if you feel that information is being withheld from you unreasonably, it certainly does not hurt for you to go ahead and hire an attorney to represent you. If you do, your attorney should be able to request information from the Executor's attorney and get it. Please also note, however, in some cases, the underlying Will may attempt to limit the information that beneficiaries can receive at all. In that kind of situation, the beneficiaries may not even be entitled to receive much information. Without knowing a lot more about the situation and the underlying documents, I could not tell you whether that is a factor in your father's estate, but it's possible.  ... Read More

Assuming that you have already asked for a copy of the trust and information about it, and been denied appropriate information, then you need to hire an attorney who works on fiduciary litigation. The attorney will likely need to send a demand letter to the Trustee of the trust. If that does not result in appropriate action by the Trustee, then your attorney may need to sue the Trustee for an accounting and for a copy of the trust.  ... Read More

The answer to your question lies in the language of the trust.  What does the document say about replacing the trustee or providing an accounting?  Most trusts provide that an accounting must be provided by a successor trustee at least annually. Has your sister provided the beneficiaries with an accounting?  If not, you may be able to file an action to ask a judge to order the Trustee to provide the beneficiaries an accounting.  That should at least provide you with information about the assets.  Also, most trusts provide language that dictates how to replace a trustee.  If the trust allows the beneficiaries to vote on whether to replace the trustee that may be the way to go in order to have a new trustee in place that will provide the required information.  If five years have gone by without any communication from the trustee regarding the distribution of the assets, you will want to retain the services of an attorney to explore whether to file an action to force the trustee to provide this information to you and the other beneficiaries.  ... Read More

Hello Natalie, Myself and many other attorneys who practice in estate planning do this on a regular basis.  However, lawyers are prohibited from reaching out to solicit your business via an answer to a question on this forum.  You need to be the one to reach out and initiate contact with an attorney of your choosing.  You can use the Find a Lawyer tab on this webpage, check with the local bar associations, or ask friends or others you know in related professions for a referral. Best of luck.... Read More

The Special Needs Trust typically will have provisions setting forth the conditions and procedure for removing a trustee, and those terms will determine the answer to your question in regards to your stepson.  Typically, in California, a special needs trust beneficiary will need to more than merely state that a trustee should be removed.  The beneficiary may need to provide evidence to support his removal request.  Generally, a trustee can be removed for failing to perform a duty, mismanaging assets or no longer being able to carry out his/her trustee responsibilities.  ... Read More

Do you have a copy of the Trust document?  Did your mother have a Will? Was your mother married?  Do you have brothers or sisters through your mother?  These are questions that would help determine what you need to do next.  If you are one of mother's heirs, you can file a probate to have the court determine the status of the house and who should inherit it. ... Read More

I'm trying to understand your question, because you can give your property to anyone you like.  Is there some question about it being your farm?  Is there some question about you being competent to handle yourr own affairs?  Has some creditor of either you or your husband in some way legally restrained what you can do with your assets?   Assuming that none of the above applies, and that you became the sole owner of the farm when your husband died, you can give it to your kids, but you should be aware that, depending on how much the farm is worth, there may be some gift tax issues.... Read More

Since  your mother has a will, and assuming it is valid, your nephew can't inherit anything through intestacy.  Since he is living in your mom's house with her permission, he has not gained any rights through adverse possession.  You don't mention any lease or other agreement in which your mother gave him permission to stay in the house after her death.  Thus, he would have no rights to the house.  However, anyone can claim anything they want, and you can't stop him from making a claim, however bogus.  Moreover, while he has no right to destroy any of your mother's property, that doesn't mean he won't do it.  if you feel it likely that he will destroy her property, you might have a better chance of safeguarding it if he was evicted, but that doesn't seem practical under the circumstances.  Theoretically, if you believe that your mother is no longer competent, you could ask a court to appoint you as her guardian which, if you were successful, would give you the legal power to evict your nephew, but besides the problem of enforcing the eviction, this coure of action would be expensive and would put you at odds with your mother, so I don't recommend it.  Ultimately this is not a legal quesiton, but a  practical one of how best to deal with your nephew, which only you can decide.... Read More

I'm going to assume that the "she" you refer to in your question is your cousin's spouse.  If you leave the property to your cousin outright, his/her spouse will probably have some sort of claim to it after your cousin dies, and possibly before.  However, you can leave your cousin a life estate (meaning that your cousin would have the right to use the property during his/her life, but won't own it) with ownership passing to domeone you designate (your cousin's child perhaps) after your cousin dies.  This will prevent your cousin's spouse from having any claim of ownership to the property.  However, if you don't leave your cousin full ownership, your cousin won't be able to sell the property or mortgage it.... Read More

Hello. My name is Damien. I am a Trusts & Estates attorney in New York City practicing in the New York City metropolitan area. The heirs of the remainderman would inherit the property when there is a life estate. The remainderman in your situation would be your Mother. When the remainderman dies before the life estate holder (your grandmother), her interest in the property would pass to her heirs or to another remainderman if there was one. If you need any assistance, a New York Trusts & Estates Attorney could help you.... Read More

Hello. My name is Damien. I am a Trusts & Estates attorney in New York City practicing in the New York City metropolitan area. A beneficiary of a trust is an interested party. An interested party can request a copy of the trust and ultimately, if necessary, petition for a compulsory accounting. What usually happens is a beneficiary would first request an informal accounting, which could be a summary of the transactions in the account from the date the trustee came into power. The summary could serve as an interim accounting and possibly provide the beneficiary with enough information to understanding what has taken place. If not, upon receipt of an informal accounting, a beneficiary could ask for more detail. If it appears there are discrepancies, the beneficiary could ask for a formal accounting (more detail) and if not received file a petition in court for a compulsory accounting. If you need any assistance, a New York Trusts & Estates Attorney could help you.... Read More

Hello.  Many Probate lawyers do not litigate.  Litigation in Probate is basically the same as civil trial work, which I do.  I have fought many battles involving trustees, successor trustees, etc.  I will need more details from you if you want a deeper answer.  What type of trust is it?  Are you one of 3 successor trustees?  Are they accusing you of any negligent or intentional acts?... Read More

Homes don't go to probate, wills go to probate, or if no will, the estate is administered by the Court (although it might be called something different than administration n your parents' state).  The home could pass directly if title was held in a certain way (e.g. life estate for parents, remainder to children) but that is unlikely.  Most likely your parents owned the home as tenants by the entirety, meaning that the latest to pass owned it completely, and it will pass according to that person's will (which must be probated) or, if no will, by the laws of intestacy of their state.  Usually, those laws will provide that the property goes equally to the children.  However, you may need to institute a court proceeding to confirm it and confirm title.  If the chilldren are not agreed about what to do with the property, it can be partitioned, either by agreement of the children (e.g. 3 buy out the share of the 4th) or in a court proceeding, which would be expensive and time consuming.... Read More