Q: My brother is in control of my trusts. Power of attorney over my bank account. How do I get rid of power of attorney?
He is angry at me and has denied me funds. Also has been able to get information from my health insurance company, Aetna. Found out his address is listed on my bank and insurance information to be sent to him.
A:
You have two issues.
First, you say your brother is in control of “your” trusts. I assume you do not mean that you are the settlor of certain trusts, but rather that you are the beneficiary of certain trusts and your brother is the trustee.
You can have your brother removed as trustee according to the terms of the trust instruments or for breaching his fiduciary duties as trustee. This will require the assistance of an attorney with experience fiduciary litigation.
It is important to mention that, if your brother is removed as trustee, a substitute trustee will be appointed. Unless the trust itself specifies that you get the corpus if the trustee is removed, which is rare, or the remaining corpus is very small, a court will not usually give you control of the assets if you are the beneficiary.
Second, you say your brother has power of attorney over your bank accounts. The only way that happens is if you signed a “power of attorney” giving that control to your brother. The good news is you can revoke that power of attorney and regain control of bank accounts in your name.
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