Trust Disputes
Your estate is like your legacy, which deserves inexhaustible protection. A trust is a legal entity that fortifies your estate, holds and controls its property and assets, and enables you to exercise control over it in the event of your death. A trust operates for the benefit of an individual or entity and offers several advantages, like tax planning, creditor protection, estate planning, and distribution control. However, trusts are complicated; there are several types, including revocable, irrevocable, family, inter-vivos, insurance, and charitable trusts. Each trust type has unique and nuanced restrictions and regulations, so working with trust litigation lawyers is essential during trust disputes. Those involved may be trustees, beneficiaries, or heirs.
The administration of a trust is complicated with ample opportunities for conflicts. When there are multiple trustees, it can be impossible to get everyone in agreement about administering trust assets. For example, in the event of ambiguous trust terms, disputes often arise due to a lack of clarity on how to make distributions. Alternatively, a beneficiary may be skeptical about the accuracy of trust accounting or suspect other negligence, like a breach of fiduciary responsibilities, or may be dealing with fundamental incompetence. In more nefarious situations, assets may be missing or misappropriated, or there may be cause to suspect document forgery, self-dealing, or that a beneficiary has unduly influenced a trustee to increase their share. Regardless, only those personally impacted by the outcome can contest a trust, like family members, which is why family trust disputes are so common. Others who have legal standing include disinherited or disadvantaged heirs. These are often family members who would have inherited more if it weren’t for establishing a trust.
Whether you want to contest a trust or need legal defense because someone has accused you of misconduct, trust litigation is complicated. Under Georgia law, you have four years to contest a trust. The only way to navigate this complex process is by seeking out the expertise of premier trust dispute lawyers. Sometimes, trust litigation lawyers can even file a petition to remove a trustee. To learn your best course of action, having an unparalleled firm like Gaslowitz Frankel in your corner is the only way to set yourself up for success.
Common Types of Trust Dispute Claims
Trust Disputes Among Siblings
- Forging documents.
- Using undue influence.
- Acting unlawfully as a trustee.
Whether it is due to one sibling receiving an unfair share of a trust, sibling rivalry, one sibling taking advantage of the other, or a disagreement over administration and management, trust disputes among siblings are common. If siblings cannot come to a solution independently, their only option may be legal action. Remember, heirs have a right to:
- See the will and other estate documents.
- Require the trustee keep track of all assets, debts, and taxes paid during probate.
If you have no other recourse, working with trust dispute lawyers is essential. Provide your lawyer with trust documentation and necessary proof, and they will help file a petition to dispute the trust in the appropriate court department.
Breach of Fiduciary Duties
Trustees have a legal duty to protect the assets and property they are holding for the benefit of the beneficiaries. They are required by law to act in the best interest of those beneficiaries. These are called fiduciary duties. If a beneficiary or interested individual has reason to believe that a trustee has ignored his or her fiduciary duty and harmed any of the beneficiaries, there is a potential claim for breach of fiduciary duty.
A breach of fiduciary duty may include:
- Ignoring the directives of the trust
- Mismanagement of trust assets
- Preferential treatment of one beneficiary over another, if not allowed by the trust
- Evidence of self-dealing
- Excessive fees charged by the trustee to the trust
- Misappropriation or conversion of trust assets
Failure to Provide Accounting
Beneficiaries are legally entitled to information regarding the financial balance and current status of assets being held in their trust. If the trust documents do not outline procedure for the dissemination of this information, then Georgia law requires that upon reasonable request by a beneficiary, a trustee must provide an accounting at least annually. This accounting must include a “statement of the receipts and disbursements of principal and income that have occurred during the last year of the trust, and a statement of the assets and liabilities of the trust as of the end of the accounting period.”
Self-Dealing
Subject to the terms of the trust, trustees must refrain from using trust assets for their own benefit. Self-dealing may take many forms, including when a trustee:
- Pays himself or herself excessive compensation
- Loans funds from the trust to family members
- Making improper investments in his or her separate business endeavors
Set Aside of Trust
A grantor of the trust must have the mental competence to understand the purpose of the trust in order for a trust to be validly established. The trust must be established without undue influence of another and with the awareness that a trust is being created. If not properly established, the court may set aside the trust. This means that the court will invalidate the trust.
Modifications of Trust
Consult with an Experienced Attorney
The attorneys of Gaslowitz Frankel have years of expertise in handling complex issues surrounding trust disputes. For reliable legal guidance and professional discretion, consult with the attorneys of Gaslowitz Frankel.