Where do you go when the person in charge of a loved one’s trust is letting their legacy down in Riverside County? - You call the Preston Law Group for compassionate and diligent trust litigation.
Trusts are an incredibly potent estate planning tool. Trusts allow loved ones to pass on their wealth, assets, and property with exacting precision and without the burden of probate. They do so by letting someone outline a careful plan for who should receive what, when, and how, which can be as detailed as they like.
This means that trusts can take years to fully come into effect, and that they require the hard work and, well, trustworthiness of the person placed in charge of the management of the assets. It is no coincidence that this person is called the trustee, the trust has been placed in their hands.
Unfortunately, trustees are human, and humans are prone to errors and greed. When trustees fail the trusts placed in their hands, it can feel like the ultimate betrayal, and loved ones of the deceased, especially beneficiaries, may feel like an injustice has been committed.
Luckily, that is where we step in as your Riverside Trust litigation attorneys.
Trust litigation is a broad term that covers any lawsuit by or against a person involved in a trust (or left out of one) against another person involved or in charge of the trust. This means trust litigation can range in severity from a simple demand for clarity and information, all the way to a contestation of the validity of the trust itself.
Like probate and other estate resolution matters, trust litigation happens in Probate Court, where a judge has the authority to impose actions on the trustee or beneficiary in question. In Riverside, this could be in any one of the 14 county courthouses.
If you are a beneficiary of the trust and you think the trustee is not doing their job right or is taking advantage of their responsibility, trust litigation is the strongest option for getting them back on track. But it should rarely, if never, be your first choice.
Trust litigation is not to be undertaken lightly, but sometimes, it can be the only way to fix a problem with someone’s handling of a trust. Often, these situations fall into three broad categories:
We will go over each one, and if you find yourself thinking, this sounds like what is happening to me or my family in Riverside County, pick up the phone and call (949) 993-0639; after all, only a lawyer can truly tell you whether you have a valid case for litigation or not.
One of the most common problems with trustee management is information flow. It is all too easy for a trustee to “forget” to share important aspects of the trust’s management, including the text of the trust itself, with beneficiaries.
Sometimes these are honest mistakes, especially when the trustee is a loved one, and not a professional, who is overwhelmed by the demands of the trust. Often if that is the case, simply asking will suffice, but if it keeps happening you might want to recommend they get the help of experienced attorneys to bear some of the burden.
Sometimes, however, information flow problems hide deeper issues, such as a trustee taking advantage of the funds of the trust, misusing them, holding back, failing to fulfill their obligations or any one of a number of problems. If they are refusing to hand something over or hiding parts of the trust or its management from the beneficiaries, you may need to file a trust litigation lawsuit just to find out what is going on.
And when you do, you will likely need a trust litigation attorney to take them to court to fix it.
Most problems with trust management can be summed up as either the failure to do something a trustee or beneficiary was supposed to, or by one of them doing something they were not supposed to.
From misusing or misappropriation of funds to self-dealing (which can be done by accident by naive or inexperienced trustees), there are many actions a trustee must not take and others they should be stopped from taking if they are. Their actions can cost the trust and tarnish the legacy of the person responsible, and when it is dishonest behavior that is responsible for these actions, trust litigation can force them to stop and reimburse any losses.
Failures to act are often more benign, though withholding funds from beneficiaries that a trustee was supposed to hand over could be motivated by greed or malice. When it is, a trust litigation lawyer will help you get a court to force them to act.
Not all estate management problems can be solved with a single action or inaction, however.
So far we have looked at minor trust management issues, isolated incidents, and troubling patterns, but some trust conflicts run deeper, and when they do, trust litigation is often the only solution.
If you want to change the trustee in charge of its management, for example after repeated mismanagement, then you will need a Riverside probate court judge to order/approve it, and an attorney to convince them.
If you believe you have been unjustly left out of a trust or that a relative and loved one were tricked into creating one, then you may need to petition to have the court invalidate the trust entirely. This is a drastic and sometimes difficult form of trust litigation, but it is possible, and sometimes necessary, to ensure justice is done and your loved one’s legacy restored.
No matter the form of trust litigation required, the faster you act, the more seriously the court may take your complaint, and the more time your Riverside County trust litigation law firm team will have to fix it.
For all your trust litigation needs or questions look no further than the Preston Law Group P.C | Serving elders, families, and legacies in Riverside County and all of southern California.
If any of these problems have resonated with you, chances are you may need trust litigation after all. But even if all you have is a question about something that seems off or fishy with a trust, trustee, or trust management incident in Riverside County, you should get in touch.
Call (949) 993-0639 to get a trust litigation attorney on your side, because sometimes protecting the legacy of a loved one can only be done in court, and when that happens, you will need a lawyer to guide you through it as efficiently, effectively, and painlessly as possible.
