pipeline010
New Member
- Jurisdiction
- New Jersey
I'm at my whits end and need some advice. This will be a rather long post, so apologies in advance and thank your for even reading and double that for responses.
About 10 or so years ago my mother set up an irrevocable trust. The trustees are myself, my brother(B), and my sister(S). S is the executor and the only person legally allowed to speak to the trust attorney regarding trust information outside of my mother.
About 6 years ago I was searching for my first home. My mother had the idea of taking a loan/mortgage from the trust and keep the money in the family. I agreed, purchased my home, and have paid her essentially an interest only loan per month along with payments for taxes and insurance. At the time I was able to speak to the trust attorney who verified to me what we were doing was kosher, as I could loan from the trust but, strange to me, my mother could not.
1 year ago I got a new job in a new area about 2 hours from my home. Unsure if the job would last, I chose to rent out my home for a year. The lease began in November 2017 and, now stable, I intend to sell the property and settle the mortgage after the lease term ends in Nov 18.
In march, there is a fire at the property. Luckily no one was hurt, it was an exterior garage/shed disattached from the house. The garage had electrical, but was not the likely cause of the fire. Inspections took forever (3 months!), but the insurance eventually paid out about 14k with another 8k or so if I chose to remediate.
While waiting for the check, I began remediation anyway, spent about 4k out of pocket to get remediations begun. Then the check arrives, named to: MYSELF & XYZ IRREVOCABLE TRUST. This means the only legal place I can deposit the check is to the trust itself. My mother is made aware of what is happening, so I deposit the check.
Now my mother....she has gotten quite loopy over the last year (nice way of putting it). Also a main reason for me selling the house. She is literally days away from a nursing home its gotten so bad. I try to convey to her the urgency of what is happening: At the moment I type this there are live electrical wires exposed in the backyard. I'm broke, spent everything I had on repairs (even my kids tuition deposit for fall) expecting a reimbursement and cannot continue repairs in any way without the funds sent by the insurance company for repairs. She isn't getting it, she's just too far gone. The money sits in the trust account.
So I reach out to my siblings. Me and my brother are fine. Me and my sister absolutely DO NOT get along, and remember she is the executor of the trust. I try to tell both of them about the situation, how I'm concerned the trust, as mortgage holders also sitting on repair money, could even be liable if the tenants were to sue for current living conditions (or worse if something bad happened!).
I cannot legally even speak to the trust attorney for recourse. My sister, upon me asking, responds with such things as "You must be a horrible landlord if your tenants are going to sue you" and "You already stole money from the trust anyway, since money is missing" (no idea what that even means, outside of a gun and a getaway car I can't withdraw anything).
I have no idea what I can do anymore. Getting through to my mother just doesn't seem possible, and I think my sister may be insane. Is there a legal way I can (or should?) compel the reimbursement for repairs? If not, is there a legal way I can disavow ownership of the property, essentially allowing foreclosure of the property?
To be clear, the house value is very much in the black regarding the initial mortgage, even with the fire. If I dump ownership (if I even could) I'd be walking away from about 50-90k in equity.
I really just don't know what to do....I worry for my tenants and feel bad every day that they are stuck there, I even offered them a lease quit if they wanted and they declined. I assume any lawyer they might procure would get very large eyes upon learning about a trusts involvement and embezzlement (is that even the right word?) of repair funds from the insurance company.
Advice of any kind is very much appreciated.
About 10 or so years ago my mother set up an irrevocable trust. The trustees are myself, my brother(B), and my sister(S). S is the executor and the only person legally allowed to speak to the trust attorney regarding trust information outside of my mother.
About 6 years ago I was searching for my first home. My mother had the idea of taking a loan/mortgage from the trust and keep the money in the family. I agreed, purchased my home, and have paid her essentially an interest only loan per month along with payments for taxes and insurance. At the time I was able to speak to the trust attorney who verified to me what we were doing was kosher, as I could loan from the trust but, strange to me, my mother could not.
1 year ago I got a new job in a new area about 2 hours from my home. Unsure if the job would last, I chose to rent out my home for a year. The lease began in November 2017 and, now stable, I intend to sell the property and settle the mortgage after the lease term ends in Nov 18.
In march, there is a fire at the property. Luckily no one was hurt, it was an exterior garage/shed disattached from the house. The garage had electrical, but was not the likely cause of the fire. Inspections took forever (3 months!), but the insurance eventually paid out about 14k with another 8k or so if I chose to remediate.
While waiting for the check, I began remediation anyway, spent about 4k out of pocket to get remediations begun. Then the check arrives, named to: MYSELF & XYZ IRREVOCABLE TRUST. This means the only legal place I can deposit the check is to the trust itself. My mother is made aware of what is happening, so I deposit the check.
Now my mother....she has gotten quite loopy over the last year (nice way of putting it). Also a main reason for me selling the house. She is literally days away from a nursing home its gotten so bad. I try to convey to her the urgency of what is happening: At the moment I type this there are live electrical wires exposed in the backyard. I'm broke, spent everything I had on repairs (even my kids tuition deposit for fall) expecting a reimbursement and cannot continue repairs in any way without the funds sent by the insurance company for repairs. She isn't getting it, she's just too far gone. The money sits in the trust account.
So I reach out to my siblings. Me and my brother are fine. Me and my sister absolutely DO NOT get along, and remember she is the executor of the trust. I try to tell both of them about the situation, how I'm concerned the trust, as mortgage holders also sitting on repair money, could even be liable if the tenants were to sue for current living conditions (or worse if something bad happened!).
I cannot legally even speak to the trust attorney for recourse. My sister, upon me asking, responds with such things as "You must be a horrible landlord if your tenants are going to sue you" and "You already stole money from the trust anyway, since money is missing" (no idea what that even means, outside of a gun and a getaway car I can't withdraw anything).
I have no idea what I can do anymore. Getting through to my mother just doesn't seem possible, and I think my sister may be insane. Is there a legal way I can (or should?) compel the reimbursement for repairs? If not, is there a legal way I can disavow ownership of the property, essentially allowing foreclosure of the property?
To be clear, the house value is very much in the black regarding the initial mortgage, even with the fire. If I dump ownership (if I even could) I'd be walking away from about 50-90k in equity.
I really just don't know what to do....I worry for my tenants and feel bad every day that they are stuck there, I even offered them a lease quit if they wanted and they declined. I assume any lawyer they might procure would get very large eyes upon learning about a trusts involvement and embezzlement (is that even the right word?) of repair funds from the insurance company.
Advice of any kind is very much appreciated.
