TexasMom25
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TEXAS
I’m in Texas and curious what remedies I can seek for the following legal issues.
My husband passed away last year. He had no assets to speak of other than personal mementos and a joint checking account with the right of survivorship. Since we knew he’d passing and because we were so young that I’d likely remarry, we decided that his father would be executor of his estate (meaning his father would be responsible for keeping track of the personal items for our very young son until our son was older).
After he passed, I received a couple hundred dollars that was in the joint account and that was it. Upon hearing this, a number of his friends decided to host a benefit in his honor to benefit our son. His father stated that he was going to pick a neutral, third party to be the trustee of the trust funds. Unbeknownst to me, he picked a woman that I had never met and seemingly appeared out of the woodwork when my husband got sick (i.e. not a family friend). She set up a memorial account and started accepting donations in my son’s name. She was also in charge of counting and depositing the money raised at the benefit. I was told $10,000 had been raised. When I inquired about the details of the trust and to have an official accounting, I was put off over and over again.
Over a year later, I asked about possibly using some funds to cover the out of pocket costs for asthma medicine that my son has been taking since birth that was no longer going to be covered by my insurance plan. I was willing to turn over all the receipts etc and even let my father in law be the one to pick up and pay the pharmacy directly. He told me he was keeping the money until my son turned 18 and went to college and his lady friend was no longer the trustee, he was. When I inquired as to why she was no longer the trustee, he informed me that shortly after the benefit, she made $6k worth of withdrawals. She gave my father in law the remaining funds (which he put in a trust account in his name with my son as beneficiary) but promised to pay back the money if charges weren’t pressed. She never paid back any of the money and my father in law finally filed charges. She’s been indicted but there are apparently other people she’s defrauded and my father in law has stated that he won’t be seeking a civil suit to recover the funds b/c it’s a waste of time and money.
Can I file suit against her and my father in law for breach of fiduciary duty? Can I have my father-in-law replaced as trustee?
I’m in Texas and curious what remedies I can seek for the following legal issues.
My husband passed away last year. He had no assets to speak of other than personal mementos and a joint checking account with the right of survivorship. Since we knew he’d passing and because we were so young that I’d likely remarry, we decided that his father would be executor of his estate (meaning his father would be responsible for keeping track of the personal items for our very young son until our son was older).
After he passed, I received a couple hundred dollars that was in the joint account and that was it. Upon hearing this, a number of his friends decided to host a benefit in his honor to benefit our son. His father stated that he was going to pick a neutral, third party to be the trustee of the trust funds. Unbeknownst to me, he picked a woman that I had never met and seemingly appeared out of the woodwork when my husband got sick (i.e. not a family friend). She set up a memorial account and started accepting donations in my son’s name. She was also in charge of counting and depositing the money raised at the benefit. I was told $10,000 had been raised. When I inquired about the details of the trust and to have an official accounting, I was put off over and over again.
Over a year later, I asked about possibly using some funds to cover the out of pocket costs for asthma medicine that my son has been taking since birth that was no longer going to be covered by my insurance plan. I was willing to turn over all the receipts etc and even let my father in law be the one to pick up and pay the pharmacy directly. He told me he was keeping the money until my son turned 18 and went to college and his lady friend was no longer the trustee, he was. When I inquired as to why she was no longer the trustee, he informed me that shortly after the benefit, she made $6k worth of withdrawals. She gave my father in law the remaining funds (which he put in a trust account in his name with my son as beneficiary) but promised to pay back the money if charges weren’t pressed. She never paid back any of the money and my father in law finally filed charges. She’s been indicted but there are apparently other people she’s defrauded and my father in law has stated that he won’t be seeking a civil suit to recover the funds b/c it’s a waste of time and money.
Can I file suit against her and my father in law for breach of fiduciary duty? Can I have my father-in-law replaced as trustee?
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