Executors have a legal mandate to act in the best interest of the estate and its beneficiaries. When they fail to do so, the courts can—and will—step in to protect the estate’s assets.
Gaslowitz Frankel attorneys Robert C. Port and Luke Caselman recently secured a major victory in probate court, successfully securing a comprehensive court order holding a rogue executor accountable.
The firm represented a client whose grandfather died over 12 years ago. The trust established for the client under his grandfather’s will had never been established or funded, and the executor provided little information about their administration of the estate, including the sale of significant property interests held by the decedent. Thanks to the diligent litigation efforts of Port and Caselman, the probate court found that the executor breached her fiduciary duties in numerous ways. These breaches included failing to fund the trusts that were to be established for the decedent’s grandchildren under his will, commingling estate and corporate funds, failing to provide transparent financial accounting of the estate’s transactions, and operating with a significant conflict of interest by serving simultaneously as the executor, general partner, and the real estate agent taking substantial commissions on estate property sales.
To rectify these fiduciary breaches, Port and Caselman successfully petitioned the probate court to require that the Executor provide a detailed accounting, including supporting records, of the estate’s assets and all 12 years of the estate’s income, expenses, distributions, and other transactions. The court stripped the executor of her right to collect statutory executor commissions, directed the Executor to pay back any estate funds used in defense of the petition, and held the Executor personally responsible for the estate’s litigation expenses going forward. The court also ordered the sale of remaining properties through neutral third-party real estate agents. Crucially, the court’s findings opened the door to Port and Caselman’s compelling argument that the executor was personally responsible for our client’s attorney fees and costs.
Executors cannot treat estate assets as their own or operate in the dark. The attorneys of Gaslowitz Frankel have years of expertise in handling the complex issues surrounding will, trust, estate, business, and securities disputes. If you suspect a fiduciary is mismanaging an estate, a trust, or breaching their legal duties, consult with the attorneys of Gaslowitz Frankel today. Proactive legal intervention is vital to secure the transparency you deserve as an estate heir or trust beneficiary.
