Trust Fund

[l_mcdonald]

On August 2, my mother passed away. She had set up a trust fund, but my brother has used all the money that was in the fund. He made an agreement with my mother that all monies he borrowed would be paid back to the fund. He now has let my other brothers and myself know that he does not intend to pay any of us what was set up in the fund. He was the sole caretaker of my mother but was getting paid from the state they lived in and also her monthly income. He now states that he is charging the trust an additonal amount for her care. This was not agreed on by my mother nor was discussed with any of the family. He has admitted to me that he is doing this now so that he will not have to pay back what he owes. He has gone so far as to charge her for even the visits he made to the hospital when she first had the stroke! He was not working at the time so there isn't even that excuse. We live in California and he resides in Idaho. Is there anything we can do on our own, or do we need a lawyer? If we did hire a lawyer, is there a chance we would receive our inheritance? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[ALawyer]

I am sorry at the loss you have suffered. But let's make sure we are talking about real life situations and not legal rights or greed, on any side.

Legalities aside, to the extent that he was the primary caregiver or person in charge of your mother's care, most people would say it seems fair that the primary care giver should get something "extra" beyond his pro-rata share to cover his out of pocket expenses in taking care of her and for the time he spent caring for her, which is at least an "opportunity cost" as he could have been working. Where were the rest of you when care had to be given? Do you and your siblings think he should have done all the work and borne all the strain but get only his pro-rata share of the estate? In that case the rest of you seem a bit unfair and greedy.

The issue is what is fair payment to him for the extra work he put in? If there was a $300,000 estate it does not seem fair that he get the entire estate. But if she was sick for a year and he did not work to care for her, would his normal salary, say $40,000, or even half that seem fair as an extra share to him? And perhaps that was all there was in the estate is $10,000. Perhaps he shouldn't have done an ultimatum, and perhaps the rest of you should have nbeen more understanding. But you are at a point where it makes sense to understand the situation.

As a lawyer I would tell you that you'd need a lawyer in the state in which your mother resided to get any money from the brother. And a lawyer's letter might do the trick. But if the amount is small, I suggest that all of you seeing a family counsellor may be money better spent than on lawyer fees.