negligent trustee?

[KW]

THANK YOU for all your answers. Yes I reached out to my Trustee sister...after 5 weeks of the house just sitting vacant I told her that I wanted to come out and look at the house and stay there a couple of nights (I live in AZ)(maybe, depending on how much of a health hazard that would be)...and she said "I don't want anyone in that house. We need to sell it as soon as possible." ( REALLY? ) I said, " but 1/3 of the house belongs to me, why can't I go in the house?" She said, "the house belongs to the Trust."

 

[TrustUser]

hi katy,

in very simplistic terms, a trust separates legal ownership from beneficial ownership.

the trustee of the trust is entitled the legal ownership, but the beneficiaries are the real owners, in the sense that they are the ones that have the beneficial rights to it.

if i were in your shoes, i would go down there, and check the house out, and the heck with what your sister says.

even if it "gets sold right away", that is likely months away.

which means that a 2-day stay by you would not interfere with anything.

it seems obvious to me that she doesnt want you guys in the house.

the only logical conclusion is that she wants to do something there that she doesnt want you to know about.

the only thing i can think of is taking stuff from it.

your sister is not operating in what would be a typical fashion - your situation is extremely typical.

the kids should all come down, make sure that all mementos are taken, and share in any other assets that are desired.

put the rest up for sale, get it cleaned up and fixed up, if necessary.

then hire someone to either sell or lease it.

you should certainly be given the trust document.

it is not uncommon for the trustee to get some sort of approval from the beneficiaries before major things are done, like selling the house.

but all that would be spelled out in the trust document. and until you can read it, you wont know what's what.

which is most likely exactly what your sister wants - keeping you in the dark as much as possible.

this is simply a big red blinking warning sign that something is amiss !!

 

[TrustUser]

hi katy,

in addition, you might ask her if the "house needs to be sold right away", why has she not done anything in 5 weeks to start the process ?

i dont know why you are even putting up with this crap.

take the bull by the horns, go down there, and make sure you know what is happening, so you can protect your interest.

 

[KW]

Hi again,

Well I sent my sister the information that Silverplum posted about trusts. Here's what I got back:

" You were given a copy of the trust document along with everyone else. It became irrevocable with our father's death. The terms are simple: a life tenancy for Alyce; a three way division of all the trust's assets; a requirement that the house be sold after Alyce's death and the sale proceeds split three ways. The probate court has no jurisdiction over the terms of the trust as such."

The probate court has no jurisdiction? It definitely lays out the steps a trustee must follow. You know what..I'm just done. Screw this. Now I'm being treated like a greedy bi**h. I am going to just sit back and wait for my check. I'm done with my sisters.

 

[TrustUser]

hi katy,

do you or do you not have a copy of the trust document ?

if you do, you should be able to read it and verify what the trustee-sister is saying.

if not, please ask her nicely to send you one, as it must have gotten lost in the mail. offer to pay her for postage expense, and even her time, if you want to be very polite. a small fee to pay for something very valuable to you.

it is correct that probate has no jursidiction over the trust - one of the very good things about trusts !!

it is also possible that the trust would state that the house needs to be sold, especially if your father figured you guys would not be able to work together as a team, and rent it out.

the actual terms of the trust that you are relaying to us as stated by your trustee-sister are actually quite a bit in line with what could be fairly common.

this last post raises no red flags, anyways.

i would still go down there, and take a look at the house, so you can see with your own 2 eyes, just what it is that you own.

 

[TrustUser]

also, when you do go down there, ask her for an inventory of just what assets are in the trust that are gonna be divided equally ?

in your situation, your trustee-sister can close out a bank account titled to the trust, and deposit the funds wherever she wants, without any of the other beneficiaries being the wiser, AND PROBABLY NOT BE CAUGHT.

i do not think it is in your best interest to simply wait, with no hands-on knowledge of the situation.

 

[KW]

Nobody ever said that the Probate Code changes the terms of the Trust! The CA Probate Code details the duties of the Trustee, none of which she is following. No inventory , nothing. I got my copy of the Trust documents 12 years ago when I was newly disabled and cannot find the documents. I did ask her for a copy nicely, and her answer was as above. But those are the correct terms that I remember. I am sure I will never see any of the contents of that house but...the house holds many pretty awful memories and I think I am better off staying away from the toxic situation there. But I appreciate your answers...sometimes the emotional toll is just too great and that needs to be factored in.

I hope she does a google search of my name and finds this thread though. (lol)

 

[Dave1952]

While the house belongs to the trust, who owns the property in the house? I'm thinking that the recently deceased did and that it now is part of her estate. Advising the OP to clean out the house is not, in my opinion, good advice. I hope that someone is dealing with the contents of the house by settling the estate.
Perhaps the house may be cleared after the executrix itemizes the property. The use of the word, hoarder, makes me think that this will take much more time than the OP expects.