Betrayal of Trust | Trustee Failure to Distribute Assets

Betrayal of Trust | Trustee Failure to Distribute Assets

• June 16, 2023 - Abused Beneficiaries, Trust Litigation,

I’m Mike Hackard with Hackard Law. We often represent trust beneficiaries against trustees who have failed to distribute assets.

This is a commonplace and ordinary event. While commonplace, it raises red flags. And it might be a betrayal of trust.

Failing to distribute hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions of dollars, to vested beneficiaries is not trivial. Trustee’s responses to requested distributions can be unsettling – full of unanswered questions.

Beneficiaries may wonder whether the intransigent trustee is mistaken or intentionally lying.

For some trustees, the crisis is of their own making. Inexperience, incompetence, and unaccountability may give false comfort that there is little downside to their failure to distribute. Court petitions and court orders may disabuse them of these delusions.

I cannot say that petitions for distributions in Probate Court are always timely heard and timely ordered. They are not. Our courts are still backed up from the COVID crisis. Justice, for the most part and unfortunately, is not swift.

That said, sitting on your hands and hoping for a timely distribution won’t advance your case. There are many iterations and nuances of trust distribution law.

Should property be distributed in kind?

Should property be sold, and the proceeds distributed to the beneficiaries?

Can some beneficiaries receive money and others real estate?

What do you do if you think that a trustee or estate administrator is hiding assets?

If you have a trust distribution case and would like to talk about it, call us at Hackard Law.

916 313-3030. We’ll be happy to speak with you.

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