Two different trust instruments.

[IWish]

What is the name of your state? North Carolina

Sorry for this getting so long.

My Father pasted away last year and left everything in a trust to his kids. My Sister and Step Mother are the Co-Trsutees of the trust. At first they refused to give us a copy of the trust and we had to hire an attorney to get one. After about 60 days we recevied the first copy of the trust, but it was missing several articles, and some of the articles were missing pages. We retained the attorney to continue trying to get a complete copy of the trust instrument. After about 5 months we received another copy, but much larger, from the Co-Trustees new attorney. After comparing the two trust instruments we noticed several items that were different between the two. Both copies had the affidavit attached, which was signed by my Father, two witnesses and notarized by the original trust attorney, with the same date. There are a few differences between the two instruments and in one case one instrument makes reference to California were the other instrument has North Carolina in the same reference. Also both instruments make reference to an article that we still have not seen. The current trust attorney was surprise to find out that there was a difference between the two instruments, and I do not believe he had a copy of the first one that was delivered to us.

Now for the question: Do we have a case to have the trust declared invalid?

Thanks,
IWish

 

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state? North Carolina

Sorry for this getting so long.

My Father pasted away last year and left everything in a trust to his kids. My Sister and Step Mother are the Co-Trsutees of the trust. At first they refused to give us a copy of the trust and we had to hire an attorney to get one. After about 60 days we recevied the first copy of the trust, but it was missing several articles, and some of the articles were missing pages. We retained the attorney to continue trying to get a complete copy of the trust instrument. After about 5 months we received another copy, but much larger, from the Co-Trustees new attorney. After comparing the two trust instruments we noticed several items that were different between the two. Both copies had the affidavit attached, which was signed by my Father, two witnesses and notarized by the original trust attorney, with the same date. There are a few differences between the two instruments and in one case one instrument makes reference to California were the other instrument has North Carolina in the same reference. Also both instruments make reference to an article that we still have not seen. The current trust attorney was surprise to find out that there was a difference between the two instruments, and I do not believe he had a copy of the first one that was delivered to us.

Now for the question: Do we have a case to have the trust declared invalid?

Thanks,
IWish

Q: Do we have a case to have the trust declared invalid?

A: No one can answer that without having first read the original trust. It is, however, not at all unusual for trusts to be amended, especially when one of the makers of the trust moves from one state to another.

 

[IWish]

Two copies of the trust

My Father never made changes to the trust. I know this because he was the kind of person to get something started, put it away and never go back to it. Also during a Rule 25 Discovery the Co-Trustees stated in deposition that this was the only copy of the trust.

Thank You,
IWish

 

[Dandy Don]

This is a question you need to be asking your own attorney.

Right now you don't have all of the evidence to make a determination as to what course to follow.

Has the total value of assets changed or remained the same when comparing old documents to newer ones?

Have names of any beneficiaries been added or deleted, or are there just changes in the language/terminology? Do documents look forged or altered or is it just that you can not understand the whole trust completely because of the documents that are missing?

You need to find out your rights as a beneficiary in NC to find out exactly what documentation you are entitled and are not entitled to receive or ask for.

The fact that they have not provided all documents is very suspicious and cause for concern to double-check everything they give you to make sure there are no fraudulent misrepresentations or omissions. Ask your attorney how you can ask the court to require this trustee to post a trustee's bond since there is evidence that they could try to steal from this trust.

Contesting the trust may not necessarily be the avenue you wish to pursue since that would be costly to both sides in legal fees, but it may be possible with a good attorney to get the errors and omissions explained and corrected without having to go through litigation.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])