Albert & Joanne created a #family trust in 1988 for their 8 children. They died in 1995 and 1996 after which the #family trust was to be distributed among their 8 children, but for 80 acres of vacation property and some stocks, bonds and #mutual funds which were to remain in the #trust.
Mom and Dad’s brilliant idea? To create a “permanent recreation area for their family.” What was created was a lot of #trust lawyers’ fees and lots of #trust litigation.
#TRUST BENEFICIARIES SUE 3 #TRUSTEES IN 1998
The #trust beneficiaries sued three of the four trustees on June 5, 1998 for:
- multiple #breaches of fiduciary duty
- an order to restrain the #trustees from incurring more expenses and costs
- #removal of the trustees
- #attorneys fees
The #trust beneficiaries wanted to amend their #trust lawsuit against the trustees, but the #trust court would not let them.
#TRUST LAWSUIT MOVES AT A SNAIL’S PACE: 10 YEARS OF #TRUST LITIGATION — how is this possible ?
Over the next 10 years, the #inheritance war raged on, as the #trust beneficiaries went to court to try to #amend their #trust lawsuit including for:
- Trustee misconduct
- #trust reformation
- #partition of trust real estate
Later, a new #probate judge was assigned to the case.
In 2007, the trust beneficiaries tried again, asking the #trust court to let them #amend their trust lawsuit against the #trustees:
- To #partition the #trust real estate vacation property
- Distribute #trust assets including other #trust real estate which was added to the trust when mom died
A hearing was not held until June of 2009 !!! It seemed like the #beneficiaries were losing at each turn ! The #trustees were fighting them and the Court was not helping them.
BEWARE OF THE LAWYERS !!
“On June 5, 2009, the Trustees sent the Beneficiaries a proposed order purporting to memorialize the decisions made at the May 2009 hearing. The proposed order, however, contained at least two significant misstatements” of the #trust court’s oral ruling:
- it did not include a provision directing the #trustees to distribute #trust real estate out of the trust
- it tried to pay the #trustees attorneys fees of $134,275 !
Crazy !! In June of 2009, the #trust beneficiaries hired new #trust counsel.
#TRUSTEES’ BAD FAITH
The #probate court ended up finding that
- Trustees had acted in bad faith when their #trust lawyer submitted a proposed order that was “180 degrees different than what [the court] ruled” regarding #trust real estate.
- The Beneficiaries were awarded $37,210 in #attorney fees to be paid by the Trustees personally —— not with Trust funds.
- The court also denied the Trustees‘ pending motion for attorney fees against the Beneficiaries for all of the attorney fees the Trustees had incurred during the entire #trust litigation.
The Trustees, of course, appealed.
FOR REFERRAL SOURCES, LAWYERS AND LITIGATORS ONLY
We help you with Florida estate and trust administration and trials, and #probate appeals.
Our #Florida probate law firm :
- does not prepare estate plans
- does not draft wills and trusts
- does not steal your clients or your probates
Our #West Palm Beach, Florida #probate litigation firm :
- hands your clients back to you at the conclusion of the #Florida matter—after all, they are YOUR clients
- we try cases & handle appeals
- our practice is restricted to #Florida probate disputes & contested guardianships
- we work with you on #Florida estate administration, #Florida probate
- we litigate for and protect beneficiary rights
- we represent #Florida personal representatives or executors, and #Florida trustees
- we receive approximately 95% of our clients from other lawyers
- we take contingency fee cases.
Who are we? Our firm is comprised of
- serious Florida litigators, with an outstanding reputation in our legal community
- focused probate lawyers,
- experienced paralegals and support staff.
We have been involved in high profile, nine figure, multi-million-dollar #Florida estates, including Madoff matters, old # Palm Beach money and complex trusts and multi-party #Florida probates. We also handle “small” or “simple” matters. All we do is litigate and help you with #Florida estate and trust administration. #Tortious interference with an inheritance and allegations of #undue influence, and #will challenges and trust challenges are a unique subspecialty of the law. Does your client know which ones to file, when to do that, and why? Do you know the different ways to prove each case? How about quantifying or assessing damages? It would be our pleasure to work with you and to serve your clients. For a complete copy of this very recent legal opinion please email michelle@pankauskilawfirm.com.
John Pankauski, www.johnpankauski.com, is the author of The Trustee’s Book – An Individual’s Guide To Money, Misfits, Marriages, and Mismanagement, and the upcoming The $41 Trillion Inheritance War. He is an estate and trust litigator in West Palm Beach, Florida, www.pankauskilawfirm.com and has been featured on the CBS Evening News, in The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, NBC, ABC and Fox networks.