Q: How much time can a trustee take to sell the assets (house) from a trust and distribute the monies to the beneficiaries?
Our mother passed away Nov, 2018 and our brother is the trustee. He and one of my sisters took everything out of the house and my sister and her family moved into the house. The trustee will not respond to any of the beneficiaries, except my sister living in the house. The attorney for the trust will not answer our questions.
A: You would be best served by hiring a trust litigation attorney to send the trustee a letter requiring him to follow the statutes and the terms of the trust. If the letter does not work, you may need to sue the trustee to have him removed by the court and replaced with someone who will play by the rules.
James Edward Berge agrees with this answer
A: A trustee has a duty to keep you informed, a duty of loyalty to you, a duty to account to you, a duty to treat you fairly, and a duty to make trust assets income producing, along with a duty to fully and faithfully comply with the terms of the trust. Without knowing more, it sounds like this trustee is violating all these duties and the terms of the trust. You really need a trust litigation attorney to represent your interests. Demand can be made for an accounting, for suspension of trustee powers, for removal and replacement of the trustee, and for surcharge against the trustee and the beneficiary in possession of the home if you have been unfairly harmed, including attorney fees and costs.
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