Dispute years sfter settling trust

[gurlinky]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA.

My father passed away a few years ago and I am executor trustee of his estate. I hired a lawyer to help me settle the estate and make sure I did everything correctly. My sister and I were equal beneficiaries to his estate with several grandchildren named as receiving a given amount of money. years after settling the estate, all distributions made and trust account closed I am now having a dispute with her over funds distributed to her minor children witch she has custody of. My sister and her husband are divorced and there was conflict as to who should control the funds so it was my decision to place the inherited funds for her children in UTMA accounts in the children's names with myself as custodian. I discussed this with my lawyer and he advised the decision was fine. I felt this was in the children's best interest and to avoid the possibility of problems arising for the child to receive their funds when they become of age. This ensures the funds go to the children when they reach the age of 18 regardless of which parent they are living with or have disputes with at the time. I recently received a letter from my sisters attorney insisting she has a legal right to hold those funds for them and demanding that I turn them over to her. What is your opinion?

 

[adjusterjack]

there was conflict as to who should control the funds so it was my decision to place the inherited funds for her children in UTMA accounts in the children's names with myself as custodian.

Did the trust or the will give you specific power to do that with regard to the childrens' inheritance or did you get a court order appointing you as the custodian or did you get written permission from the parents?

If none of the above you may have a problem

I recently received a letter from my sisters attorney insisting she has a legal right to hold those funds for them and demanding that I turn them over to her. What is your opinion?

My opinion is twofold.

1 - Don't take legal advice from the enemy. For all you know she might have paid a lawyer to send a letter based on just what she told him.

2 - Go back and read the trust and/or the will and take it all to an trust attorney along with that letter for a review.

Until you do that it's anybody's guess whether or not you had the authority to do what you did.

 

[gurlinky]

There were no specific instructions in the trust just to alicate the the funds to the children. Since they are minors the funds are placed in UTMA accounts. The lawyer had informed me the decision was up to me to be custodian on the accounts. Opening the accounts required one parent signature which I got from their father.

 

[adjusterjack]

Opening the accounts required one parent signature which I got from their father.

You didn't mention that before.

Please understand that I am not saying you were right or wrong in appointing yourself custodian because, having not read the trust, I don't know.

What I do see is that you have a problem that could potentially cost you a lot of money if your sister decides to litigate or it could cost you just a little money if you got in front of this and had your own lawyer respond to the other lawyer with a legal opinion that might convince your sister to back off.

How much money is involved?

 

[gurlinky]

You didn't mention that before.

Please understand that I am not saying you were right or wrong in appointing yourself custodian because, having not read the trust, I don't know.

What I do see is that you have a problem that could potentially cost you a lot of money if your sister decides to litigate or it could cost you just a little money if you got in front of this and had your own lawyer respond to the other lawyer with a legal opinion that might convince your sister to back off.

How much money is involved?

Thanks, I do plan to consult with a lawyer and ask him to respond to the letter. My intentions where to protect myself from legal action in the event of any mishandling or refusing to deliver the funds to the children. There is a history of theft and mishandling of funds set aside for the children between my sister and her ex husband. It was a very bitter divorce and all of the adult children have made the decision to live with their father and have broken relations with their mother (my sister). For these reasons I took the liberty of controling those funds. The childrens father was in favor of the idea but my sister was not. As I understood it, as trustee it is my duty to make sure the funds are delivered to the named beneficiaries. As for the amount, I will just say it's enough to fork over legal fees over.

 

[Dandy Don]

See if there is a website that gives information/instructions on how to handle/manage UTMA accounts in California to see if you have options now to make changes to how the account is designated to achieve the safeguards you want.

Maybe there is a way for you and your sister to be designated as joint account owners or maybe it could be turned over to the trust department of a bank. Try to see if there is a way to make a change on this account in order to avoid the expense of legal fees in a court battle.

 

[gurlinky]

I have consulted with my attorney on this matter and California law does provide for me as trustee to assign a custodian for minor inheritance UTMA accounts if I deem it benifical to the minor. Especially if the custodian is the trustee, which I am. There are also provisions to petition the court to seek early distribution of funds or have the custodian removed. This will have to be done in the county where the trust was settled. My legal fees should be minimal as I can simply send the checks if ordered to do so. My sister has also stolen funds due to me from real property that my father was granted a lean on threw her divorce proceedings. The lean granted him the first $99,000 from the sale of the property. The mater is a bit complicated but my atorney has advised me to hire an attorney in Maine to prosecute her as I have substantial evidence to do so. So now I am looking for a good atorney in or near Portland Maine.