successor trustees

[Heidi57]

MY mother in law has a trust, she has 4 successor trustees to handle the trust. She has requested that a portion of her real estate be given to one of the children, the successor trustees are refusing her request. Can they refuse her request? She is old and the successor trustees manipulate her into doing whatever they want. Do the other heirs have any recourse against the successor trustees if they are not honoring her requests and if they aren't operating in her best interest? She lives in Arizona.

[Edited by Heidi57 on 12-01-2000 at 01:39 PM]

 

[ALawyer]

Yes, a trust, and the actions of trustees under it, is subject to review by the courts in the state whose law the trust was created under. The creator of the trust has standing.

Of course if she in NOT mentally competent (and why else are the successor trustees acting instead of her?) the trustees need not and should not follow HER directions but should be using their judgment. The purpose is to honor her original intent and keep the trust intact and protect her and the other trust beneficiaries from being taken advantage of by someone preying on her (if she is not competent). If the trust were irrevocable, then even she may not have standing to make changes, even if she were competent.