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unhappyfarmboy

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? KS.
My Uncle passed away about 2 years ago leaving my father the sole heir to the family farm. He retained the accountatnt/trustee/executor my Uncle used for many years. There have been several occasions that I believe the trustee is not acting in the best interest of the estate. When setteling my Uncle's estate, he did not allow bids on some of the equipment and the trustee bought the eguipment (he also farms). My father ended up selling approx. 250 head of cattle to cover the inheritance taxes. The cattle were not sold at auction, but were bought by a few ranchers in the area, and he ended owning some of the cattle also which was not my Uncle's intention. He has also convinced my dad to put all our crop land into CRP for 20 years, which keeps myself, my sister (who lives on the farm) and probably her children from keeping the farm operational. The ranch land has also been rented at below market price. He is not renting any land, but I believe he and another person who is renting our land are partners in this scheme. There are also a couple of other instances where we believe he might be breaking the law.
As a heir to my father, do my sister and I have any right to question his actions or can we have his business practices brought into question?
The estate is worth over 2 million dollars, he has collected his 4% fee from my Uncle's estate, and I don't want him collecting another 4% when my father passes.
I am not sure how to go about having his business practices evaluated.
 


Dandy Don

Senior Member
Was there a will that was probated in court or were all assets put into the trust?

Has this trustee purchased a trustee's bond or does the will or trust exempt him from doing this?

You need to be taking your concerns to a trust attorney--you do not realize that a trustee has a certain amount of legal discretion in how he administers the trust/estate and the actions you describe fall in between a gray area--they may or may not be illegal. Your attorney can also advise you (or your father) whether he has the right as a beneficiary to request a copy of the trust and an annual accounting statement that could be scrutinized by an accountant to see if anything fishy is going on.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])
 

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