When you are not the trustee of a trust, you may think your responsibilities are relatively light. In fact, this is often the case. The trustee of a trust is often saddled with a great deal of responsibility (and often paid for their time and effort) while the beneficiary waits to receive whatever it is the trustor left behind for them. In many cases, this works out well and everyone goes home happy. However, not all trustees are responsible and have the trustor’s best interests at heart when it comes to fulfilling their duties. When a trustee makes decisions regarding the trust, they must first consider how those decisions affect the beneficiaries. A good trust attorney knows that many trustees end up mismanaging trusts. If this sounds like your situation, you should give an attorney, like an estate litigation attorney, a call so you can settle this sooner rather than later.
What exactly is mismanaging a trust?
When someone is named the trustee, they are responsible for managing the trust and its assets with a certain amount of competence. This does not mean they need to have a finance or law degree. However, they should understand how to take care of the assets in the trust and they should have the integrity to take care of these assets in a way that the trustor would have wanted.
Is it always nefarious?
No. In many cases, the person who is managing the trust may simply become overburdened by the duties of the trust. In addition to their own personal responsibilities, they may now be making decisions regarding real estate and stocks in addition to paying off bills and creditors from the trust. This can be difficult for anyone and if a beneficiary sees that this is occurring, it is possible to hire a trust litigation attorney to remove them as the trustee.
On the other hand, a trustee may not have the best interests of the beneficiaries at heart and may be siphoning off money or assets from the trust for their own benefit. When this is the case and if you see this occurring, you should give a law office a call as quickly as possible. Although it can be difficult to spot, if you believe that the trustee is attempting to hide their actions or hide the information in the trust, these are often red flags that they are attempting to do something illegal. That is why it is best to contact a trust litigation attorney sooner rather than later so that he or she can begin gathering evidence and looking into this as quickly as possible.