San Tan Valley, AZ asked in Estate Planning and Probate for California

Q: How do I get a list of expenses paid for a special needs trust?

My ex-wife has been overseeing my daughters special needs trust. I have reason to believe that she is submitting fraudulent receipts to be reimbursed for items she has not purchased. How do I go about getting a copy of the expenses? I have asked my ex wife and my family law attorney has also and she will not provide them to us. Am I able to go directly to the the court overseeing her trust?

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1 Lawyer Answer
Chris M. Bradford
Chris M. Bradford
Answered
  • Estate Planning Lawyer
  • Santa Monica, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: You have requested an "accounting" from the trustee of the trust, your ex-wife. Since you have received no response, you need to file a petition to the court asking to allow you to intervene in the trust on behalf of your daughter, the beneficiary, and then asking for an accounting. It sounds like there is already a court case. If there is, you would file your petition in that court case. If there is no court case, you would need to start a new one. It is strongly recommended that you not try to do this on your own. If the trust is created in Arizona and your daughter lives in Arizona, you need an Arizona attorney, not California.

When you ask a question online, like here, the answers you get are only going to be basic information, a starting point. Attorneys are trained to talk to you to find out all the important details of your story. Getting all the details is very important because it will make a big difference in the legal information given to you. It is strongly recommended that even if you get a response here on Justia, that you also talk to an attorney. Many have free first interviews. Even if you have to pay, it is worth it because you talking to a professional who is going to focus on you.

Nina Whitehurst and James Edward Berge agree with this answer

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