Who Pays For Appraisal & Property Taxes

[bigalcalbisque]

I reside in California.
Father-in -law died July 29th 2008
His personal trust and his marital agreement papers left approx 11,000 sq/ft building to my wife.
Trustee (my wifes brother) told widow, 3rd wife to keep the lease payments for the month of August without consulting my wife first) The Trustee has subsequently opened new business checking account to handle all the lease collections and make payments as needed.
My wife has not yet transfered title to her own personal trust yet.
Can my wife demand the money back as the trustee did this with-out regards to my wifes best interests?
Also, as we need an appraisal on the building and the 3rd wife bled the original bank account used for the business of the commercial building down to zero and claims there is no money in the account. Who is responsible to pay for the appraisal and would she be responsible for the property tax owed for the months that my Father-in-law was alive. He was pretty well out of it for at least 6 months prior to his death and she was handling the finances.
Thanks In Advance

 

[tranquility]

His personal trust and his marital agreement papers left approx 11,000 sq/ft building to my wife.

There are timing and other legal issues with this statement. More facts, like how *exactly* was it left to wife?

Trustee (my wifes brother) told widow, 3rd wife to keep the lease payments for the month of August without consulting my wife first) The Trustee has subsequently opened new business checking account to handle all the lease collections and make payments as needed.
My wife has not yet transfered title to her own personal trust yet.

Consultation is unnecessary. As long as the property is in the trust, the trustee is responsible for managing the property.

Can my wife demand the money back as the trustee did this with-out regards to my wifes best interests?

This depends on how the trust is written.

Also, as we need an appraisal on the building and the 3rd wife bled the original bank account used for the business of the commercial building down to zero and claims there is no money in the account.Who is responsible to pay for the appraisal and would she be responsible for the property tax owed for the months that my Father-in-law was alive.

Why do you need an appraisal? Is it for your benefit or for the trust or estate's? The property tax is due from the owner. From my guess as to how the trust was written, it comes from dad's estate.