Coercive Trustee Replaced by Sister
This case involves a trust in which a son was named as trustee. His sister, represented by Carl Jones of The Estate Lawyers, had the right to stay in the family home for life, but she was required to pay the mortgage and maintain the house.
A year ago, there was an issue with mortgage. Because the sister was not the trustee, the mortgage company would not discuss the matter with her.
“Her brother, as trustee, used the opportunity to attempt to force his sister to waive a significant portion of her right to the trust estate in exchange for his help in rectifying the issue with the mortgage company,” explained Jones.
“In the end, we were able to have the brother removed as trustee and rightly replaced with his sister,” Jones said, “who was bearing the financial and maintenance responsibilities for the family home.”
Key Takeaway
This demonstrates the need for trustees to adhere to the terms of the trust and to avoid using the position to gain an advantage over beneficiaries. In this case, the brother’s attempt to effectively rewrite a portion of his mother’s or father’s will – leveraging his position to gain a greater share of the assets – was plainly and egregiously out of bounds and justified his removal as trustee.
Additional Reading
Professionals are always urged to take proactive measures to protect the assets, wishes, and rights of their clients. To assist estate attorneys and planners in this mission, The Estate Lawyers has prepared a paper titled Undue Influence: Protecting Clients and Their Estates by Amy Gostanian, Managing Partner.
Complete this form and download the paper now!