Oldest beneficiary, will receive in 10 yrs, what to do until then?

[skfe]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

I am a beneficiary of my Grandmother's estate. In her trust it says that all grandchildren will receive an equal share of the property she owned once we reach the age of 35. I am the oldest and I am 25 right now. The second oldest is my cousin who is 18 or 19. The others are all minors and in total including me there are 5 grandchildren. Any money my grandmother had was to go to her home and not any person in the family at the time of her death until the grandchildren reach 35. I don't talk to my family often and when I have they don't seem to be aware of what my responsibility is or will be when I am 35. Currently my uncle is the trustee and has been handling the estate, although I don't know any of the specifics about how much money is left or how well the home is being taken care of.

My grandmother chose the age 35 because she felt that we'd be more responsible at that age. I fully agree as I know at this point I can't move to Arizona and take care of the property right now. In the future though I hope to repair any damages that have happened over time (I know the deck needs to be replaced along with the floors) and possibly renovate the home over time so it can be rented out as a vacation house or timeshare (or something similar). It is a cabin in the mountains and other properties in the area are used as vacation homes.

I plan on talking with my entire family long before any plans for that would go into effect, out of respect more than legal reasons, but I don't know what I'm legally responsible for or entitled to if they aren’t on board with what I think would be best for the property. Right now they don’t seem to concerned with making repairs and I worry that over time the house will fall apart if nothing is done and I'll end up owning 1/5th of a dilapidated house.

Here are some excerpts from the trust, with some edits done to protect identities:

-----At the death of the grantor (my grandmother), the trustee (my uncle) shall distribute the trust property as follows, subject to the provisions in this Declaration of Trust that create grandchildren's subtrusts:
1. All the grantor's interest in the trust property shall be given in equal shares to those of [Me] and [2nd Oldest Grandchild] who survive the grantor by 120 hours.​

-----1. If at the grantor's death [2nd Oldest Grandchild] has not yet reached the age of 35, any property [2nd Oldest Grandchild] becomes entitled to under Part 10 shall be kept in a separate grandchild's subtrust, under the provisions of this Part, until [2nd Oldest Grandchild] reaches the age of 35. [2nd Oldest Grandchild] shall be the sole beneficiary of the subtrust.
-----2. If at the grantor's death [Me] has not yet reached the age of 35, any property [Me] becomes entitled to under Part 10 shall be kept in a seperate grandchild's subtrust, under the provisions of this part until [Me] reaches the age of 35. [Me] shall be the sole beneficiary of the subtrust.​

Does this mean that when I am 35 I will get HALF of the interest that the property has or has gained?

-----Part 10: At the death of the grantor, the trustee shall distribute the trust property as follows, subject to provisions in this Declaration of Trust that create grandchildren's subtrust.
At the grantor's interest in the trust property shall be given in equal shares to those of [5 grandchildren] who survive the grantor by 120 hours.

-----If at the grantor's death [Me] has not yet reached the age of 35, any property [Me] becomes entitled to under part 10 shall be kept in a separate grandchild’s subtrust, under the provisions of this Part, until [Me] reaches the age of 35. [Me] shall be the sole beneficiary of the subtrust.​

(and the trust also lists out the same paragraph for each of the other 4 grandchildren with the same words.)
​

When I turn 35 -in 10 years-, since no one else will be 35 yet for at least 5 or 6 years after that, will I be responsible for making sure taxes are paid and the upkeep of the home is taken care of OR will my uncle (the trustee) still be partially responsible since none of the other 4 grandchildren will receive their share of the estate for a number of years?

I pretty much want to know what I will have to do when I turn 35, what if anything can I do before then to ensure no one ruins the property by neglect and to know what I will be able to do to try and bring money into the estate.

I will never sell the property or go against the wishes of any of the family, living or dead, even if they aren't a beneficiary BUT if no one else is willing to take care of the home or try and get money into it so the house won't fall apart then I want to take care of it.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[TrustUser]

i think i understand the intent of your grandmother. i am not so sure that the trust instructions are what she intended.

first, it is gonna be hard to split the cabin up equally, at different times.

i dont see any language in there that prohibits the trustee from selling the cabin, which i think might be a good idea.

what is the trustee doing with the house, at the present ? it is his responsibility to safeguard the assets. i am assuming that your grandmother has already died ? it would seem to me that the cabin should already be rented out, so that it could be generating some revenue for the trust.

why were only 2 of the grandchildren mentioned in the first portion of the trust, and 5 of them mentioned in the second portion that you stated ?

 

[skfe]

Yes my grandmother has already passed. it has been just over 2 years.

From my understanding my Uncle can not legally sell the property, nor can anyone else. Once a beneficiary reaches the age of 35 they can sell their portion to to estate, and the other owners, but not to outside parties.

My Grandmother had 3 children: my uncle, my father and my aunt.
My uncle has no children, my father has two children and my aunt has three children.
I am the oldest at 25.
The second oldest child is my aunt's son who is 19.

He and I are named as the beneficiaries of the -interest- of the estate, once we reach the age of 35. I will reach the age of 35 six years before he will.​

My aunt's other 2 children, and my father's other child along with myself and the 2nd oldest grandchild will all split up the -property- in 5 equal parts.​

This place has much sentimental value for everyone, more so my aunt's children as they spent some time growing up there. I am not worried about the place being sold, even if it were legally possible.



What I want to know is when I turn 35 will I be solely responsible for making sure the taxes and maintenance are taken care of on the property AND is there anything I can do NOW (within the next 10 years) to ensure that the property is maintained and there is money going into the property.

MY uncle and aunt (who is the back-up trustee if my uncle is unable to) want to rent the place to someone we know. The thing is the place has repairs and things that are needed (like the deck and floors and cooling system and downstairs bathroom-even though the other family members don't seem to think that is important and will vacation there anyway) AND we wouldn't be able to make much off people we know because the average class level of all of us is middle class. Anyone we know wouldn't be able to pay much, and we'd probably wouldn't charge them much if they were friends. I want to fix the place up to make it suitable for renting to strangers (no one who didn't already know us would ever pay to live in the current conditions) so we can make more money so the place is well maintained and can remain in the family for a long time. I don't have much interest in profiting on the property unless we all benefit, but I want to make sure the house isn't falling apart until I gain control of my part.

 

[TrustUser]

He and I are named as the beneficiaries of the -interest- of the estate, once we reach the age of 35. I will reach the age of 35 six years before he will.[/INDENT][/INDENT]

My aunt's other 2 children, and my father's other child along with myself and the 2nd oldest grandchild will all split up the -property- in 5 equal parts.​

this is still a bit unclear to me. are you saying that the two of you will split up the estate, and the five of you will split up the trust ?

 

[TrustUser]

the trustee is the person who is responsible for taking care of the assets. that is the job of the trustee. he is the manager.

your status is the beneficiary. that doesnt change when you become 35. you are still the beneficiary. you simply have access to what is coming to you.

in my opinion, it would be contrary to the job of the trustee, for him to allow the property to sit vacant. in order to keep up the value of the property, it either needs to be kept up and then rented out, or sold. but again, that is the job of the trustee.

 

[skfe]

interest as I understand it means monetary interest.

 

[skfe]

the trustee is the person who is responsible for taking care of the assets. that is the job of the trustee. he is the manager.

your status is the beneficiary. that doesnt change when you become 35. you are still the beneficiary. you simply have access to what is coming to you.

in my opinion, it would be contrary to the job of the trustee, for him to allow the property to sit vacant. in order to keep up the value of the property, it either needs to be kept up and then rented out, or sold. but again, that is the job of the trustee.

If only things in my family worked like that.

The last I heard and saw nothing improved. They use the house periodically for vacation because they live a couple of hours away but I don't believe any maintenance or repairs have been made.

If I try and talk to them about it, they will just go into their personal problems they have with each other which have been going on for over a decade. I am on friendly terms with everyone but because my family isn't the most responsible or sane I pulled away from them years ago. I still talk to them occasionally but not enough to know what they are doing each week/month.

Despite the fact that I am an adult they still see me as one of the kids. My aunt is under the impression that I am too irresponsible to even inherit some quilts my grandmother left for me to pass along to my future children. I am 25 and I don't own my own home, which I don't think is that strange but because we don't talk unless I'm changing addresses her only knowledge of my life is when I move and I move frequently because I rent. I'm trying my best to keep up contacts with them so I can get information easier, but there is only so much I can do.

I plan on taking a trip out there and assessing the situation, but it won't do me any good if I can't legally make decisions until I'm 35, and a lot can go wrong in 10 years.

 

[TrustUser]

there seems to be a lot of emotions running the situation, instead of brains. nothing i can really help you with, there.

keeping the cabin for sentimental reasons, a few of the beneficiaries using it every once in awhile, not maintaining it - is just a horrible management of the place. in my opinion, the trustee is not doing his job correctly.

i can just imagine what the cabin will look like in 10 years. and that is only when the first person inherits their share. the last person is a lot further away.

 

[skfe]

The trustee not doing his job is why I came here to find out if there is anything I can do.

My grandmother's intentions were that she didn't want anyone irresponsible taking care of the house.

I think that if I had the funds I would be more responsible than anyone in my family but there was no way for my grandmother to know that when she created the trust because I was only 17 at the time, and it is reasonable to assume that her eldest child who is in his 50s would do right by the place.

Sadly this is not the case and I really do not get involved with the drama that goes on between him and his sister and her children.

I just emailed my Aunt to get some information and she informed me that there are water leaks and the deck is completely unsafe and unusable and told me to let her know when I'd be visiting so she can tell me how to "winterize" the house.

She doesn't have any legal control over the property or any of the funds in the estate, but she uses the place more than my uncle.

I just want to find some way to gain access to the records, to find out what money is left so I can figure out how to fix the place.

I don't really care much about the personal issues anyone has with anyone else as I am removed from that and no one has any issues with me.

I just want to know what my legal rights are and what I can do to fix the house and rent it.

 

[TrustUser]

the trustee has the legal ownership.

either he does his job correctly, or he needs to be replaced.

so you need to talk with him in whatever way you think is best, in order for him to maintain the assets.

if you are the only one who wants the trustee replaced, i am guessing you would be in for a long uphill battle.

 

[skfe]

Who else would need to want him replaced for it to happen? What would be the process for that?

 

[TrustUser]

i dont have any experience with the actual removal of a trustee, so i cant be of much help.

there should be language in the trust regarding the removal of a trustee. some trusts give the beneficiary complete control of the removal. others do not.

when there are multiple beneficiaries, it should be laid out how the beneficiaries decide. is it a majority ?

you need to read your trust document.

 

[Dandy Don]

(1) What is the cabin/property worth now if it were appraised to be sold?

(2) What is the total value of the trust? In other words, are there any other assets in the trust besides the cabin?

(3) You say “any money my grandmother had was to go to her home”; by this do you mean that this happened only while she was alive, or were you implying that the trust specifies that all monies from the trust are to go to upkeep on the cabin?

(4) Have you checked at the county courthouse probate court to see if a probate was opened up for your grandmother’s estate so you can see how just the estate portion is being handled? If you are sure that all of her assets were put into the trust then there is no need for probate.

(5) Have you received ANYTHING from this trust as a beneficiary or has everything for the beneficiaries been put into their sub-trusts?

Right now it appears that you do not even have enough information to make an informed decision. You have rights as a trust beneficiary: the trustee is supposed to be providing you, upon your request by certified letter, annual accounting statements showing what the trust AND the sub-trusts are worth. And what does the trust say about what happens when the subtrusts are distributed—it appears that all the beneficiaries will be receiving is TITLE/SHARED OWNERSHIP to a dilapidated property.

(6) Does the trust even have any funds in it to be used for maintenance and upkeep of this property?

Your expectations may be somewhat unrealistic. If you are broke now, how could you (AT ANY TIME NOW OR IN THE FUTURE) afford to make any needed improvements to this property? This truly is a matter that you should be discussing with the trustee, since HE gets to make the final decision as to what happens. Your thinking may be faulty if you are somehow hoping that there is a large amount of money in the trust or in the subtrust to magically pay for any improvements you want for the property. There may be no money there for that.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[skfe]

(1) What is the cabin/property worth now if it were appraised to be sold?

I don't know.

(2) What is the total value of the trust? In other words, are there any other assets in the trust besides the cabin?

There are other assets which I just found out this morning to be worth around $9k since the economy has tanked (used to be much more).

(3) You say “any money my grandmother had was to go to her home”; by this do you mean that this happened only while she was alive, or were you implying that the trust specifies that all monies from the trust are to go to upkeep on the cabin?

Any money she had in her bank accounts, stocks, IRAs, etc. was to remain within the estate and it is specified that it is to be used within the estate.

Excerpt:
The trustee's powers also include:
1. The power to borrow money ans to encumber trust property, including trust real estate, by mortgage, deed of trust or other method.
2. The power to manage trust real estate as if the trustee were the absolute owner of it, including the power to lease(even if the lease term may extend beyond the period of any trust) or grant options to lease the property, to make repairs or alterations and to insure against loss.

Does this mean he CAN use the money for repairs, but he doesn't HAVE to? If he doesn't HAVE to is there anything I can do to get the repairs done? Would it have to be funded with money that is NOT in in the trust or is there any way to get the funds in the trust to pay for it. (This is the main question I'm wondering about)

(4) Have you checked at the county courthouse probate court to see if a probate was opened up for your grandmother’s estate so you can see how just the estate portion is being handled? If you are sure that all of her assets were put into the trust then there is no need for probate.

I am sure all of her assets are in the trust.

(5) Have you received ANYTHING from this trust as a beneficiary or has everything for the beneficiaries been put into their sub-trusts?

Everything is in the 5 sub-trusts.

Right now it appears that you do not even have enough information to make an informed decision. You have rights as a trust beneficiary: the trustee is supposed to be providing you, upon your request by certified letter, annual accounting statements showing what the trust AND the sub-trusts are worth. And what does the trust say about what happens when the subtrusts are distributed—it appears that all the beneficiaries will be receiving is TITLE/SHARED OWNERSHIP to a dilapidated property.

Not having information is why I came here. I'm not sure what I even CAN make a decision about.
The trustee has provided some information but I just found out I should be getting a yearly account statement.
When each person turns 35 they will receive 1/5th of the property.
The state of the house is why I've taken it upon myself to find ways to fix it, so in 10 years it won't be a pile of rotted wood when I get my share.

(6) Does the trust even have any funds in it to be used for maintenance and upkeep of this property?

See amount/info above.

Your expectations may be somewhat unrealistic. If you are broke now, how could you (AT ANY TIME NOW OR IN THE FUTURE) afford to make any needed improvements to this property? This truly is a matter that you should be discussing with the trustee, since HE gets to make the final decision as to what happens. Your thinking may be faulty if you are somehow hoping that there is a large amount of money in the trust or in the subtrust to magically pay for any improvements you want for the property. There may be no money there for that.

I work full time at a job I've had for a few years. Due to the state of the economy I've not received raises I deserve. I have a second "job" donating plasma 2 times a week, and I go to school part time. I have a high car payment, because I bought it on my own with out a co-signer, and I live very frugally. I don't have help from my family or anything other than what I do for myself. Any money I have each month after necessary expenses goes to savings so that once I make enough I can leave my job and go to school full time to finish up my nursing degree and go to a more fulfilling career.

I have spent the last 24 hours contacting the trustee about information, but he is just as clueless as I am in regards to what MY legal responsibilities and abilities are.

After NOW knowing how much is in it I can ask him about what his plans would be to fix it. The thing is my uncle is very concerned that people in the family might be trying to get money for themselves, that isn't entitled to them. This is part of why there is some issue between him and the alternated successor trustee (my aunt, his sister) because she tried to pull something and say that she was entitled to the money.

Let me reiterate I don't want any money. I don't and will not sell my part of the property to anyone. My uncle wants to honor his mothers wishes and make sure everything is done according to the trust and will. He is a rational business man, and cared very much for his mother. That said I don't talk to him often and he has a knack for angering the rest of the family. The other family members also have their issues. I stay out of it, but consequently I am not as "in the loop" if I lived near Arizona or talked to them more.

I just know that if I don't step up and act responsible, there is only so much that will be taken care of, and I have a feeling all of this will be dumped on me when I hit 35.

My hopes are that the $9k can go to repairing the plumbing and over time I can help (monetarily or physically) fix the house up. Obviously I need to talk to the trustee about this, which I will do but I'm seeking legal advice so that I at least have some information when I talk with him.


It seems though that he will have to make the call to authorize payments for anything to be fixed SO I need to go out there and look at everything so I know what to ask him for. Then I will talk to him about having people go to the house and get estimates on repairs.

HE said he also wants to rent the place out but also feels it needs repairs first, so that is a good sign, someone just needs to get on the ball and I don't mind taking on that role as long as I know what I can get done. Of course this isn't an instant process because I need to make sure my life is in order first, despite how much I want to save the house.