living trust is being looted by mother

[dmcmillinn]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? florida what if trustee is a beneficiary and acts in bad faith and is looting a living trust with other beneficiarys

 

[HappyWanderer]

Usually, the trustee of a "living trust" is the grantor and has full rights to all property of the trust. They can't "loot" it even if they distribute it all to themselves to blow on hookers and beer.

 

[curb1]

HappyWanderer,

Not necessarily, a trustee can come in many flavors. As a beneficiary, a trustee could easily be a former successor trustee. This situation as presented is not that unusual. It is one of the weaknesses of these trusts. An unscrupulous trustee can be a major problem that takes a very proactive beneficiary.

 

[FlyingRon]

Yes, it depends just what the nature of this trust is. It's quite possible that mom is the grantor (her in vivo) trust and it's hers to spend. It's also quite possible that it may be some spouse or other trust that is entirely in her constructive control even though there be successors.

We can't tell from the scant information provided.

 

[HappyWanderer]

I agree with both the prior posts. The facts were very sparse and there are many possibilities. However, I am quite aware of what a living trust is and how they work. I suspect "mom" is the grantor and, even if she is the spouse, the "living trust" portion (And, even the "B" trust from the death of the original grantor.) will most often give the spouse a lot more rights than an ascertainable standard (often HEMS), making it very unlikely mom can "loot" the trust. I merely chose the most likely scenario.