Q: My sister is 1 of the trustees to our dads living trust which has 3 beneficiaries, myself, my brother &sister (trustee).
When I've asked her for an accounting of the trust she says "there's no money so there is no trust. Real property has been sold along with vehicals including recreation vehicals. Each beneficiary was to get 1/3 of his estate and upon his death was to distributed to us kids. He was married but had all his assets, his business before they married and she's only mentioned once in trust and that is she can live in house until she re marries or passes away then it is to be divided to us 3 kids. Also Oregon is not a community property state. Also the life insurance he mentioned, I'm told there wasn't one. One of his properties was sold 4 months after he died and my brother and I didn't find this out until 4yrs later. My brother and I have never seen any of the 1/3rd that was to be ours. My brother is named successor trustee and was never told until yrs later. My sister and dads wife (the other trustee) have not followed any of what he wanted and says in trust. What can we do? From Kathy
A: It is possible that your father never transferred his assets into his Trust. If, for example, his property was jointly held with his wife then it is not controlled by his Trust. I recommend you hire a local probate attorney who can write a demand letter to the Trustee(s) to try to determine whether or not you are owed any distribution.
Joanne Reisman agrees with this answer
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A: I agree with Ms. Hollis. Here is something you can do on your own. Go down to the county property records office and look up the title history of the real estate properties that you know about. Look to see if there was ever a deed adding the properties to the trust. Then look for the deed selling the property. Also look to see if there were any mortgages recorded against the property at the time your father died. This could explain a lot about what did or didn't happen to these properties.
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