How do I remove trustees?

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marlene9625

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The state or country I am talking about is: NJ

My father died on 09/18/04, leaving a trust in my sister & her husbands name with me as beneficiary. I have never had a close relationship with these people, and it has been a nightmare. I am on Social Security Disability since 2002 due to having multiple sclerosis since 1979. According to the will, I am to receive interest/dividends quarterly and the principal may be encroached upon only under the abasolute discretion of the trustees. The money was deposited initially on 10/27/04 at Bank of America. On 11/29/04, some of the money was transferred to another financial advisor. I have not received any interest/dividend payments as yet. A call to the financial advisor resulted in him stating that a check would be issued the next day, 3/14/05. I have not received it as yet, and I questio why I had to make a phone call to receive the money. Isn't interest/dividend money isuued automatically by the financial institution? I have been requesting information regarding the B. of A. account since January, with no results. My phone calls requesting information have resulted in me being insulted, yelled at, screamed at or hung up on. When I request the information, which is required by Social Services and the Dept. of Aging, the subject is changed and diverted to repeated slandering my mother, with whom I am close, and who has been a great help to me. The trustees state that they want to test how I manage the interest/dividends. They refuse to encroach upon the principal, despite my requests to have help paying for my prescriptions, Medigap insurance, and dental care, since I have lost Medicaid. This week, after another round of fighting and refusal to disclose info about the B. of A. account, they have refused to answer my phone calls. I should mention that their sons will receive what is left of the principal upon my death. Do I have just cause to have the trustees removed/replaced, and how would I go about doing this?
 
How to remove a trustee

I just had my brother removed as trustee. If you are a beneficiary and the trustees are not responding to your valid requests (accounting, required distributions, etc.), you can have them removed. You will need to consult an attorney and make your request formal in your district court. Start with building a small trail of documentation. Send requestes to the trustee: 1) request the latest copy of the trust; 2) request a formal accounting of any distributions (most trust require accounting yearly or upon request). Be sure to send these via registered mail with signature required. If you send two or three requests, received confirmation that they received it and received no response - this would be grounds for the probate judge to remove the current trustee and appoint another. Also, how many beneficaries are there ? If it is just you and your sister, then you have the issue that your sister could object to you being the trustee - both of you may have to agree - or the court could appoint a neutral party - such as a bank or attorney - which could get costly. I am not an attorney.

Also, you are not clear on the legal document. Is this a will with wording to create a trust upon death or a trust that was funded with assets before your father's death. If it is a will (with trust provisions), then a trust "can" be set up or the administrator of the will can just probate for a long time (most wills do not require a trust).

As for the B & A account. I assume that this is the trust's account ? You have no access to these funds directly - the trustee would have to write you check. If it is your account - you need to get another financial advisor. If this is a trust account and your are only a beneficiary - you will have no access to them directly - they do not have to respond to anyone but the trustees. They sometime bend the rules for beneficiaries.

Your needs (although valid) have no bearing unless there are special provisions in the trust for your special needs. A will with trust language rarely will have this kind of verbiage. Is your mother still competent ? How she cared for - another beneficary or are they taking care of her ?

When phone calls do not work (seldom do). Go with registered letters to document your side of things. The trust will probably being bled slowly by your current trustees, so do not delay and give up. Also, the size of the estate vs. attorney fees is very relevant. Just to remove the trustee could be several thousand dollars and several months.

My brother and I, let my other brother (trustee) delay and delay - until almost everything was gone.
 
does anyone know exactly what information must be in the annual report? Copies of checks, bank statements? or just breakdown of income and expenses? jlyn
 
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