Lack of transparency

Arizona
My brother is the fiduciary for my mothers trust he has always been very guarded with information regarding the trust. He holds both the financial and medical power of attorney for her and the trust. After quite a bit of pressure from other siblings he has released financial information but flatly refuses to supply a copy of the trust to the beneficiaries. He says he has spoke with two different attorneys and they both said he should not supply a copy of the trust to the siblings who are named as beneficiaries in the trust. Is this normal?

My mother is no longer mentally able to make decisions for her self as she has Alzheimer and depression issues. There is a no contest clause in the trust but no one is contesting the trust, as we have no idea what is in the trust.

The lack of transparency on the part of the fiduciary is concerning but is there anything that can be done about it?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

I'm afraid you are caught in the classic conflict.

As a fiduciary, the trustee has a legal duty to the trust and your mother (who is undoubtedly the beneficiary). His responsibility is to fulfill the aims of the trust.

He has no legal duty to you or your sister at this point, and in fact may be violating his legal duties by providing you and your sister with information. There is no duty of transparency to you or your sister until after your mother dies. I realize this may seem inappropriate (it is, after all, your mother, too) and may seem to be a violation of an ethical or moral duty/obligations, but that is not the case.

It is not uncommon for Trustees to be very protective in these situations, to prevent potentially unhappy beneficiaries from attempting to influence/change the terms of the trust and/or pressure the settler to make alternate arrangements. Often, a parent has set up a trust after careful consideration precisely to avoid making full disclosure to all heirs. The trustee can't change that decision by disclosing the trust when a parent didn't want that to occur.

I realize there is a counter argument, that beneficiaries want the information in order to prevent manipulation of the trust by an unworthy trustee. The two sides of the argument are irreconcilable.

Ultimately, the money belongs to your mother, who was free to make whatever arrangements she wanted for it. That includes the right to choose one member of the family to manage the trust, without involving anyone else.

Unfortunately, these situations almost always result in hurt feelings/suspicions of wrongdoing/etc. and often are a proxy for other issues ("mom always liked him best, why didn't she choose me?" or "why can't I know what's going on?").

When the time comes, you will be entitled to a copy of the trust and full disclosure at that time.