Trustee in California not communicating - Escrow question

Jurisdiction
California
Hi All

Our Mother passed in February. One of our siblings is the Trustee. She has not communicating with any of the beneficiaries for over 2 weeks and there is a home involved in California.

There are 5 beneficiaries (including the Trustee). Each to receive 20% share of the home.

We have sent her emails, texts and today will be mailing a letter certified to her home asking her to communicate.

She did place our Mothers home on the MLS yesterday.

While we await her replies (if any) and while we interview attorneys, we would like to communicate with the Listing Realtor/Broker and Escrow...

Our questions:

1) Does the listing broker and escrow have to legally communicate with the beneficiaries without requiring the Trustees permission?

2) In the event of a sale, will escrow distribute the funds per the Trust/Will instructions to each beneficiary or will they issue the funds to the Trustee in hopes the Trustee will distribute them per the Trust/Will?

Thank you
 
If you wish to avoid the potential to be cheated, I suggest you expedite hiring an attorney to represent YOUR interests.

A death of a loved one causes those with grudges to bring out the axes and knives, and allows the green eyed devil, GREED, to initiate confiscatory, self serving property, assets, and money grabs.


Our Mother passed in February.

Please accept my sincere condolences upon the passing of your beloved mother.

May you mourn her death with the joy I'm sure she lived her life.

My prayer for you is that God comfort your family as you come to accept her passing, and soon you all shall know peace in her accomplishments during her life, and her motherly love.


1) Does the listing broker and escrow have to legally communicate with the beneficiaries without requiring the Trustees permission?

NO

2) In the event of a sale, will escrow distribute the funds per the Trust/Will instructions to each beneficiary or will they issue the funds to the Trustee in hopes the Trustee will distribute them per the Trust/Will?

Normally any proceeds of a sale will be sent to the trustee.
 
I gave you a comprehensive answer on another site. The basics aren't going to change regardless of how many sites you post on.

In fact, zddoodah's post is rather similar to what I wrote on the other site.
 
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Our Mother passed in February. One of our siblings is the Trustee. She has not communicating with any of the beneficiaries for over 2 weeks and there is a home involved in California.

There are 5 beneficiaries (including the Trustee). Each to receive 20% share of the home.

Let's start here. First of all, I'm going to assume that most or all of your mothers significant assets either were place into the trust before she died and/or that the trust was designated as a pay-on-death beneficiary and/or that she used a pour over will to put her estate into the trust. If some combination of those things isn't correct, please say so.

Second, does the trust really provide that each beneficiary is "to receive [a] 20% share of the home"? Or, does it provide that the home is to be sold and that each beneficiary will receive 20% of the net value of the trust assets after all debts and taxes have been paid? The latter would be far more common, and your comment about the house being put on the MLS suggests that this is the case..

Third, two weeks is hardly a long time for a trustee not to communicate with beneficiaries. Moreover, the trustee likely has no reason to communicate with beneficiaries. What do you think the trustee ought to be communicating with the beneficiaries about?

We have sent her emails, texts and today will be mailing a letter certified to her home asking her to communicate.

Communicate about what? You understand, don't you, that the trustee administers the trust in accordance with the terms of the trust and the applicable state law, right? Beneficiaries don't get a vote about how things are done unless the trust instrument expressly provides for that.

Does the listing broker and escrow have to legally communicate with the beneficiaries without requiring the Trustees permission?

The agent/broker/realtor has no obligation to communicate with anyone except his/her client, who is presumably the trustee.

In the event of a sale, will escrow distribute the funds per the Trust/Will instructions to each beneficiary or will they issue the funds to the Trustee in hopes the Trustee will distribute them per the Trust/Will?

Escrow companies don't have "hopes," and the escrow company likely would never have a copy of the trust instrument. The trust, by and through the trustee, owns the property. Any proceeds from a sale get paid to the trust (e.g., "Payable to John Smith, Trustee of the Jane Smith Revocable Living Trust"). The escrow company has no obligations to any beneficiary. That said, the trustee could, in theory, instruct the escrow company to pay directly to the beneficiaries. However, since the trust likely will have debts and tax obligations (the latter of which won't be fully resolvable until the year after your mother's date of death), making distributions until those obligations are fully resolved would likely to premature and, therefore, unwise.
 
The trustee never replied to us, instead she hired a lawyer.
We received a copy of the trust in from the lawyer and the notification 16061.7 in the mail tday with a 120 day waiver:
120 day waiver says:
That if we sign this and waive our rights to contest the Trust that the trustee MAY immediately begin to make distributions. Therefore in consideration of such expedited distributions, I hereby waive any right to contest the Trust and I HEREBY RELEASE ANY CLAIM I MAY HAVE AGAINST THE ESTATE OF XXXXXXXX.

The Trust makes clear that I receive 20% of the Net income and principal of the remaining estate for the benefit of the Settlors named beneficiaries...

The home has an offer and will go into escrow soon.

My question: Do you I have to sign this waiver?
Can I just sit back and wait for the home to sell and wait the legally allotted time for the Trustee to disburse the funds to me/us?

And I know you will say check with a lawyer. If we all had the money for one, we would have hired one. We are all quite poor and work check to check.

Thank you and GOD bless
 
The trustee . . . hired a lawyer.

A generally smart thing to do.

Do . . . I have to sign this waiver?

Of course not, but why wouldn't you sign? I obviously haven't read what you're being asked to sign. However, unless you have any thoughts about contesting the trust (do you?), then you're probably not really waiving anything.

Can I just sit back and wait for the home to sell and wait the legally allotted time for the Trustee to disburse the funds to me/us?

Nothing you have posted suggests that you lack this ability.

And I know you will say check with a lawyer.

Meh.... Nothing you've posted thus far makes me think you really have any need for an attorney. However, if you do have thoughts about contesting the trust, then not hiring an attorney would be quite foolish.
 
There is no reason to insult me and make me feel bad for not having money. You dont know what I have going in my life. I did post what the waiver noted, and it is not just waiving the right to contest it. Obliviously you did not read it and instead decided to insult and berate me.

I will no longer read your abusive comments. People come here for help, not abuse. Go do something else if you are not here to help.You seem like you are blinded by self hate, some inner sadness and lack of friends maybe...
 
There is no reason to insult me and make me feel bad for not having money.

Ummm...huh? I didn't insult you, and whether or not you "feel bad for not having money" is entirely under your control, not mine.

You dont know what I have going in my life.

You're right, but "what [you] have going on in [your] life" is no more relevant to the legal issues about which you've asked than what I have going on in my life.

I did post what the waiver noted, and it is not just waiving the right to contest it.

You summarized what the document says, but actually reading the actual words matters.

As for the rest of what you wrote, I really have no idea what you're talking about. The only real issue here seems to be whether or not you should sign the waiver, but anonymous strangers on the internet who have not read the document and don't have all the details about the trust are in no position to help you with that issue. That said, as I asked previously, unless you think you might want to contest the trust, why wouldn't you sign it.
 
AGAIN I wrote you they want me to sign off on MORE than contesting the Trust. You refuse to read it and just want to act like a big shot. And you did insult me. You really have issues and I ask that you PLEASE stop writing me.
 
AGAIN I wrote you they want me to sign off on MORE than contesting the Trust. You refuse to read it

Ok...here's what your post (#6 in this thread) says regarding the waiver:

120 day waiver says:
That if we sign this and waive our rights to contest the Trust that the trustee MAY immediately begin to make distributions. Therefore in consideration of such expedited distributions, I hereby waive any right to contest the Trust and I HEREBY RELEASE ANY CLAIM I MAY HAVE AGAINST THE ESTATE OF XXXXXXXX.

The only thing mentioned here other than contesting the trust is waiving claims against the estate. Is that what you're talking about? If so, then the same basic question applies: do you have any reason why you might contest the trust and/or make a claim against the estate"? If not, why wouldn't you sign the waiver? Keep in mind that the trust and the estate are two different things.

PLEASE stop writing me.

These are public message boards, and I'll respond where I deem it appropriate to do so. You are, of course, free to ignore and disregard whatever I write and, if you keep making unwarranted personal attacks against me (which you've done in your two most recent posts), I will probably eventually start ignoring you. If I were you, however, I would be far more appreciative of someone who spent valuable time trying to provide some insight into a complex process.
 
AGAIN I wrote you they want me to sign off on MORE than contesting the Trust. You refuse to read it and just want to act like a big shot. And you did insult me. You really have issues and I ask that you PLEASE stop writing me.

It isn't that people don't want to help you, its we can't.

We can DISCUSS any legal issue.

We can't ethically, as lawyers, dispense legal advice via the internet.

You can, however, receive A FREE LEGAL CONSULTATION (possibly an evaluation) of your issues by visiting a local attorney.

It is best to meet with at least two attorneys, DISCUSS your concerns and possibly receive answers.

Think about this.

What if you acted upon advice received from strangers and it wasn't correct?

That is why the internet isn't the place to seek advice about important legal matters.
 
I appreciate everyone help, but I am wondering why does this forum exist if not for free legal advise? I think if a lawyer was a good lawyer and busy they would not have time for a site like this. I think I now know what the angle is.... will be closing my account
 
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