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Trustee's family closed account??

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Chai11

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I recently came across the will of my great-grandparents. I had viewed it several times in the last 10 years. My mother and I were both named in their will and both left 50% of their estate. There was also a Trustee named in the will, who was supposed to be responsible for my trust. The money in the acct was to be given to me when I was 18 years old. I am now 23.

My great-grandparents are deceased, as well as my mother and the Trustee.

Great-Grandmother (d. 1997)
Mother (d. 2002)
Trustee (d. 2006)
Great-Grandfather (d. 2007)

Before my mother passed, we went to the bank where my trust was held and was told by a rep that the money had been withdrawn and the account closed a year before. They could give us no other information.

From what I know, the Trustee had Alzheimer's for some years, and that her family had been taking care of her. It is in my belief that her family gained access to that acct, withdrew the money and closed the acct.

What legal recourse do I have? I don't have much info on her family, as far as names or addresses. I'm sure with a few public records searches that I could get more info. Basically what can I do about this situation?

I appreciate any assistance.
 
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Dandy Don

Senior Member
Were you or your mother ever given a copy of the will and/or the trust? The way your posting is written it's not absolutely certain whether there was an actual trust or whether the money was just kept in a trust account.

When you reached age 18 in 2003 did you ask the trustee for your money? If so, what was her response?

Bank won't normally provide account information to anyone except an executor or trustee. Your attorney can advise you about how he can get this information and also maybe order copies of the trust tax returns. It is possible that Florida law might have requirements that the trustee provide beneficiaries with a copy of the trust along with an accounting statement by having the beneficiary request that from the trustee by certified mail.

Other items to discuss with a trust attorney who has experience in litigation with breach of fiduciary duty lawsuits:

You don't know if the account was closed by the trustee or by someone else. The person who closed the account may not have had the proper legal authority to close it. Hard to figure out right now whether that person was motivated by greed or was it an innocent act by someone who did not see how the account was titled (in trust) and didn't know what that meant and they just assumed it was the trustee's money?

At some point your attorney will need to look at the trustee's medical records to see if an official diagnosis of Alzheimer's was made and the date of that and how it affects any legal transactions the trustee executed during, before or after that date. Attorney will also need to look at all 4 probate cases to see how each estate was handled and exactly who got what.

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Main thing you need to do right now is to look at the trustee's probate file at the county courthouse to get the name and address of the executor who handled HER estate and then consult with your attorney. If her assets were put into trust and there was no will, then there will be no trust records at the courthouse.

If the statute of limitations does not apply here (and it may not apply, depending on what charges you come up with evidence for), your attorney can help you gather all of the evidence to determine exactly what happened and will probably end up filing a civil lawsuit or a breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit or abuse of power of attorney lawsuit to get your money back.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])
 

Dandy Don

Senior Member
You will also want to check this county's online court records and land records to see what properties were owned by the trustee and whether there is any family law court case involving someone acquiring conservatorship or power of attorney over her.
 
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