Trust Fund in Limbo Help!!

[Goldsmith]

What is the name of your state? Will and Death took place in central ohio. I live in western PA
Mother died 2001
executor & trustee is 75 Y.O aunt
will left everything to the only daughter in a trust 5,000 a year for the rest of her life. a 9,000 gift to excutor/trustee for her efforts & problems. If daughter dies everthing is divided up and given to siblings of Mother. if they die then the $$ goes to the religious center.
After death there was only a will with instructions for the Aunt to sell assests and set up the trust.
everything was sold but the family and the executor decided for the daughter that the trust was dumb?!?! and wished the daughter to have more so executor/trustee and attoney.
Paid off the siblings and the church =20,000 sign off their rights so that the daughter would get the whole estate in 5 years.
and gave her 20,000 in the year 2003.
End of part 1
does any of this sound legal so far??

 

[Goldsmith]

Trust in Limbo Part 2

When the daughter would call the aunt about the trust she would state that she didn't know that she should just call the attorney.( Feels like passive resistance) The daughter then thought it would be a good idea to get a $$ manager. When she did he stated that this sounds like a mixed up mess. they then they decided to ask for a copy of the assets from the estate. Much of it was missing. When they called the attorney he agreed that it seemed like some of the info was missing. But assured the $$$ manager that everthing was fine and the daughter would recieve the estate in 5 yrs/payouts. $$ manager and daughter were under the impression that a payout would take place JAN 2004. When it did not come daughter called attorney and he was hostile and said no projected date for payout was set up there was no other trust than the one set up in the orginal will. (5,000 a year?!?!) He also stated that he didn't know where she would get the money for 2004 unless their was a CD Due!
End of Part 2
I am very sorry for how long this is but this is very strange.

 

[Goldsmith]

Trust Fund in Limbo part 3

The attorney also did not follow through on an investment from last November. a whole other story.
the aunt is a missionary nurse ...we always thought we coud trust her. Breach of fiduciary duty???
the $$ manager strongly suggests I get an attorney
What Do you think of this????
My question is has anyone here ever run into this situation??
Is this passive resistance??

Thanks so much!!!!!

 

[Dandy Don]

Are YOU the daughter who has been cheated out of her trust? If you are NOT the daughter, then how are you involved in this situation?

It may have been legal for the siblings to have signed away their rights, but it is most improper and probably illegal for this attorney and executrix to coerce/suggest that they do so. Siblings had NO RIGHT TO ANY OF THIS MONEY unless the stipulated condition occurred (IF the daughter died, WHICH DID NOT HAPPEN!!), so this is further evidence of the sneaky nature of the attorney and executrix.

Yes, as you suspected, this is a breach of fiduciary duty. Even though mother could have better handled the situation by setting up the trust herself before she died, the executrix had a specific legal obligation to explicitly and exactly follow the instructions of the will to get a trust set up. How much money in total was set aside in the will to set up the trust? If you have not already reviewed the probate file containing the last will and testament and other documents that would reveal financial information about how this estate was handled, then you should go to the courthouse to look at the file and perhaps make copies of everything in it so that you can take it to your own attorney to review your legal situation. While you are at the courthouse, ask the courthouse employees if executors in that county are required to post an executors bond.

It would help if you had access to a copy of the document that the siblings and/or the church signed that gave up their rights.

Let's hope that the executrix did file some type of accounting statement in the probate file and an estate tax return (federal and/or state, if they were required) that shows how she distributed the monies from this estate, and I certainly hope that she didn't take more than the $9,000 gift she was entitled to (plus executor fee), but I wouldn't be surprised if she and the attorney somehow found a way to bill the estate for more costs or expenses than they were entitled to.

They gave the daughter the $20,000 just to make her think that they were professional in managing the estate and just to give her a sense of (false) confidence in implying that she should trust them with the handling of her money, when the exact opposite is true--what they should have been giving her is full and complete information about where the rest of the money is.

Of course the attorney is being hostile and uncooperative and defensive because he knows that you are on his trail and that you are about to gather evidence that will prove his wrongdoing, and trying to mislead you by implying that PERHAPS a CD was set up with the mysteriously missing money--but if he was a professional he would know FOR SURE whether or not a CD existed!!

Of course, the aunt is going to plead ignorance because she is also a co-conspirator and doesn't want to provide information by saying (rightly or wrongly) that the attorney knows everything, when THEY ARE BOTH GUILTY.

Yes, you will need to get a probate attorney (one that has experience with litigation) to get to the bottom of this. Maybe he can get enough documentation and answers from the aunt to resolve this matter without resorting to a lawsuit (if perhaps the aunt and attorney are willing to make restitution), but somehow I think that you are going to end up having to file a lawsuit to recover this stolen money.

Congratulations for being savvy enough to figure out that something was rotten here!!

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[Goldsmith]

In Limbo

I am the 28 Y.O. daughter
My mother did not leave a record of where the assets were we had to go on a hunt though her papers and stop at every bank in town to see which banks she had accounts with the attorney didn't know where all of her $$ was.

When I Go See another attorney is it advisable to take the 2nd executor/trustee the one that is in control/takes over after this one dies or is unable or unfit with me??
I think I should after all she is second in command. and is one of the siblings that recived a pay off for signing over her rights.
How do I shop for an attorney that will specialize in Trust fund litigation??
Thanks again!!

 

[Goldsmith]

It may have been legal for the siblings to have signed away their rights, but it is most improper and probably illegal for this attorney and executrix to coerce/suggest that they do so. Siblings had NO RIGHT TO ANY OF THIS MONEY unless the stipulated condition occurred (IF the daughter died, WHICH DID NOT HAPPEN!!), so this is further evidence of the sneaky nature of the attorney and executrix.

The siblings of the mother all agreed for the best interests of myself that the trust that was outlined in the will was set up in a very dumb manner (of course with the attorneys help Ha Ha) and that I would never recive the whole amount in my life time. They all thought that was stupaid and decided together that I should have more.
I never signed any aggrement saying that this was o.k.
they just decided for me. I would have been fine with the 5 grand a year but they insisted that this was the best thing.


Yes, as you suspected, this is a breach of fiduciary duty. Even though mother could have better handled the situation by setting up the trust herself before she died, the executrix had a specific legal obligation to explicitly and exactly follow the instructions of the will to get a trust set up. How much money in total was set aside in the will to set up the trust? This amount in unknown
Thanks again!!

 

[Dandy Don]

You should take this person with you only if they were named as second or alternate TRUSTEE (specifically a TRUSTEE), since a trustee (AND NOT AN EXECUTOR) will be the only person authorized to handle the trust.

If you can afford to, pay a private investigator $100-$200 to have a financial background check done on the mother to see if there may be any other assets undiscovered (stocks, CD's, etc.).

You can talk to several trust attorneys to get cost estimates and after explaining briefly your situation ask them if they have specific experience with litigating any cases regarding trust funds and if so ask them to provide the specific case number so you can review the case at the courthouse yourself.