Trustee Not Communicating With Beneficiaries.

How do trusts work?

The person who creates a trust is known as the settlor or grantor. They work with a qualified attorney who drafts the trust document based on their (grantor’s) wishes for asset distributions. The person appointed in charge of the trust is known as the trustee.

Trusts hold principal (assets like bonds, stock, cash, and real estate), which earn income over time, including dividends, interest, royalties, and rent. For example, a grandparent may decide to leave, as a legacy, private company stocks to their grandchildren and name the son as the trustee.

If the trustee is not the sole beneficiary, the relationship between him and other beneficiaries is a fiduciary. That means the trustee must act with care, good faith, and loyalty towards beneficiaries and the trust when handling matters related to the trust.

Many trust instruments define what the trustee’s duties are. There’s likely to be a section in the trust instrument that determines the trustee’s duties, which might be at least a page long.

In the absence of instructions specifying trustee duties, one has to look to the trust laws to define those trustee duties. Some trusts will even include language that says the trustee is bound by the duties described in the applicable trust law.

One of the primary duties of a trustee to beneficiaries is mandatory disclosure, including keeping beneficiaries apprised of the progress of the trust administration.

What information should trustees share with beneficiaries?

Some of the information the state of California requires trustees to share with beneficiaries include:

• The terms of the trust, including its purpose, the beneficiaries and their respective interests in the trust, the trustee’s powers and duties, and the procedures for distributing trust assets.
• An inventory of all the assets in the trust, such as real estate, stocks, bonds, etc.
• Annual accounting of the trust’s financial activities, including income, distributions, and expenses.
• A complete written record of the distributions made from the trust, including who received what amount and on what date.

These mandatory disclosures aside, the trust instrument may also stipulate that the trustee provides beneficiaries with other information upon request. These may include:

• Details of the trust investments, including strategies employed by the trustee and why, plus the resulting outcomes.
• Information about the sale of trust assets. Some trusts give trustees the power to sell assets without beneficiaries’ consent. Others require the trustee to consult beneficiaries first. In any case, it’s always wise to talk to beneficiaries first and limit exposure to personal liability.
• Information about any litigation (pending or potential) involving the trust, including the nature of the case and who’s involved, plus its potential impact on the trust.
• A rough estimate of the timeline for administering the trust.

However, some trustees aren’t always forthcoming with information about the trust administration. California has many cases involving trustees not communicating with beneficiaries.

What to do if your trustee fails to communicate

Trustees who fail to communicate leave beneficiaries in the dark about their trust, meaning one may not know how the settlor wanted their property and accounts handled and distributed. The first thing to do is try to restore communication.

Check your way of communication.

There are many different ways to communicate with a trustee. You could do so via phone, written letters, or electronic means in a friendly or bossy manner. Sometimes, if you are not getting a response, something may be wrong with your communication.

For example, you may have received the email, SMS, or voice message reply but accidentally deleted it without noticing. You can check your email trash or phone’s voicemail app for deleted messages.

In some cases, the deletion might’ve happened on the trustee’s end, so they didn’t get your requests. Or they are just too busy to check their email. In such cases, try different means of communication, like a registered letter that generates proof of postage and delivery signature.

Letters are generally the best because they allow you to write down your questions and be clear about what you want so the trustee can respond. Of course, they may require more time to issue a complete response, so it’s good to be patient when they’ve told you they’ll respond.

Moreover, it’s best to avoid sounding agitated in your messages. Failure to get a response can be irritating. But it’ll be even more frustrating if the trustee becomes unwilling to talk because they feel the conversation has become hostile. In any case, if you’ve tried various means and methods of communication to no avail, it’s time to get expert help.

Contact an attorney

Dealing with a trustee who does not follow trust on your own can be stressful. You may not know what to do or where to start. A qualified attorney can help you understand your legal options.

Trusts and estates typically involve several attorneys. For example, the settlor may retain an attorney for the estate, the trustee may retain their attorney for guidance and support, and beneficiaries, too, may retain their attorney or use the estate attorney to protect their rights and interests.

If your trustee is not responding to your requests, contact their attorney to ask how to get in touch with the trustee and make your requests or seek answers to your questions regarding the trust.

Suppose the trustee is ignorant of the mandatory disclosure requirement. In that case, the attorney can explain that they are legally obligated to keep you informed on various aspects of the trust.

The trustee may even authorize the attorney to communicate on their behalf. If the trustee has already made it such that you can only speak with each other via his attorney, it could be why your direct messages have gone unanswered.

In any case, have your lawyer present to protect your rights and interests. Dealing with a trustee and their lawyer alone can involve high emotions interfering with proper communication. Have a personal attorney speak on your behalf so they can pass on your requests or questions clearly and concisely.

Get the help of the court

If all else fails, you can always seek to be rescued from the uncooperative trustee by the court. That means if you’ve tried to communicate with the trustee in all ways, even through attorneys, to no avail, you can file a petition to compel with the local probate court.

As a beneficiary of a trust, you have the right to scrutinize its records and receive copies of all documents relating to the trust. If the trustee fails in their responsibility, you can petition the court to compel the trust.

A California petition to compel a trust is an opportunity to get copies of the terms of the trust and its amendments and accounting when the trustee refuses to respond to written requests for these documents.

In some cases, trustees may refuse to provide copies of the documents because they’ve bungled the assets, messed with the accounting, or simply don’t want you to read what’s contained in the document. In such a case, you can ask your attorney to file a petition to compel.

A petition to compel is usually done by preparing a verified petition and an order directing the parties who know or may know the whereabouts of the documents to provide them in court. It grants you access to legal tools such as depositions, subpoenas, and document requests to check your desired information.

Suppose the trustee fails to respond to the petition. In that case, the court can remove them and order them to pay penalties (surcharges and profit disgorgements) to compensate you for the financial harm resulting from their actions.

However, talking to an experienced trust and estate attorney before filing this petition is always wise. A qualified attorney can help you determine the best cause of action and even help with the process. If you have questions regarding the trustee not following the trust, go to our contact page to schedule a no-obligation consultation with a qualified attorney and get expert help.