Trust used to transfer property after a divorce with no copy of trust to review

[Kirsten Hurst]

I just went through a divorce in Oregon. There were several pieces of real property involved in this divorce, two held in a trust. The Trust's existence fell through the cracks and was never introduced into the divorce. After the divorce ,we went through the motion to transfer the properties. In a nutshell,
my ex-husband's attorney was made aware of the trust only a few days after the dissolution. He sent me deeds to sign transfering the title on the properties. The deeds said nothing about emcumbrances,tax es, etc. I had
no copy of the trust. My ex has all our documents and paperwork that I am still trying to get. I said I would not sign the deeds without an attorney reviewing the trust. I wanted the property transaction to go through a title company, the mortgages refinanced to take me off them, and a title search, and to make sure that my exhusband hadn't borrowed money on the properties held in the trust without needing my signature. I asked for a copy of the trust and after that was totally ignored, no replys to my request, no trust, nothing. Now months later, my exhusband and his attorney filed a motion to amend the original dissolution agreement. Basicly, the point was to ammend the wording on the original dissolution on the properties in the trust, and title tansfer on them. I filed an objection because something seemed really wrong that they would'nt get me a copy of the trust, and now were managing to get the title transfer done without me signing anything. The objection was done as a phone conference with the Judge, myself and my exhusband's attorney. Bottom line, the judge approved the motion, but I
had expressed what I thought had occurred improperly about not being sent that trust, and my exhusband's attorney said he never sent it because neither
he or his client had a copy of the attorney. HOWEVER, in the dissolution papers, he managed to describe the trust with the date it was formed. I think he was lying, but my question is, can a property transfer occur without
ANYONE reviewing the wording of the trust to see that it is allowed in that trust? Legally , shouldn't that trust have been part of the documents that the
dissolution court orders said "each party is to get the necessary documents to one another to facilitate the property transfers" within 20 days.
I believe I am dealing with contempt issues here, but has something potentialy illegal been done for an attorney to use a trust legally, and make changes on it, but then say he doesn't have a copy of the trust? Without actually having a copy of the trust, or signing anything, whatother types of things can they do under the cloak of that trust.

 

[Dandy Don]

Yes, the property transfer can occur. It is the job of your attorney or a real estate attorney you hire to examine the documents to see if the transaction has been done correctly or not. Even if an error has occurred, it is still not too late to get it corrected.

As far as the trust is concerned, is this a trust that your ex-husband was named as a beneficiary of? If so, then under normal circumstances you would not be entitled to see a copy of it. However, in this case, since the judge requested/ordered it, you are entitled to a copy of the trust and they are negligent/lacking in not providing you with it. This time ask your attorney to make the request specifically to the trustee of the trust, if that person is not the attorney you've already asked. If the trustee IS the attorney that said he didn't have a copy, then your attorney needs to bring this matter up before the judge to say that the other side has not fully complied.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[Kirsten Hurst]

re:trust

All the questions you have asked me,...are part of the reason of my concern, I can't tell you specifics on the trust, because I can't answer questions for example,...regarding my husband being a beneficiary because I, nor any one from side ,my attorney,etc. has read the trust . My exhusband and I had
the trust made up in 2002 in So. Calif when we made our will etc. We moved to Oregon and then went through this divorce. That we had a trust and two pieces of our property were in that trust ,was totally forgotten about
through both our faults for forgetting about the trust, being naive as to its importance in the divorce, and our attorney's never inquiring about things such as the trust. I left our home with just the shirt off my back because of abuse, and then got a restraining order. My point is that I haven't read the trust since we made it in 2002, and even as far as the attorney who made it, all my paperork, documents, phone books, etc. are not in my possession and I haven't been able to get them.Shouldn't that trust have been technically and legally included in the judges orders under all documents
necessary to facilitate property transfers be exchanged within 20 days?
It worries me that it has been such a big deal to send me a copy of the trust
I am not contesting the property going to my exhusband, I am concerned as I was advised by a real estate attorney that there might have been more
things that could have been done using the trust, that will come back to haunt me, and the effort to not get me a copy is suspicious and worrisome. Can I go back to the court and ask that the trust be dissolved since it was
never introduced in the divorce proceedings? Is there someplace I can acquire the trust from in regards to it being recorded in So. Calif? I can't even remember the Law Firms name, and without all my phone books, files, etc. Thank you for your help and feed back.

 

[Dandy Don]

I sympathize with the difficulty of your situation, but you may turn out to be your own worst enemy here. You can't expect someone else to remember details about where a trust is that YOU had drawn up. Start going through your personal papers now or go through the telephone directory to see if the attorney you used is still in the area, or find out from your attorney what your chances are of getting the other side to produce the trust that you've already asked for and what your next step should be.