$22 MILLION TRUST BENEFICIARY SUES TRUSTEE OVER #TRUST FUND ACCESS
$22 Million dollar trust ? Now that’s a trust ! Is this a case of show me the money? Or, merely, why am I not getting more trust money?
A #trust beneficiary sued a #trust company claiming that the #trust company interfered with her access to #trust distributions from a #$22 million trust which was established in Greece and funded with Swiss bank accounts by her aunt.
The #trustee stated that it was distributing money from the #trust fund according to a letter of wishes supposedly signed by, or created by , the #trust beneficiary’s aunt who created the trust. The creator of a trust is often referred to as a #trust settlor or #trust grantor. Of the $22 million in the trust the #trustee only distributed $117,000 to the #trust beneficiary.
#TRUST BENEFICIARY SUES MOTHER AND BROTHER OVER $22 MILLION TRUST !
This #trust beneficiary filed a #trust lawsuit suing her mother and her brother regarding this $22 million trust. This #trust beneficiary claimed that her mother and brother misappropriated #trust money from #trusts created by her aunt.
Five years later, the #trust beneficiary filed an amended #trust lawsuit suing the #trustee which is a large financial institution.
The #trust the beneficiary claimed:
- that the #trustee breached its fiduciary duties by intentionally and wrongfully distributing millions of dollars to her mother and brother against the wishes of her aunt who created the #trust
- #trust conspiracy! The #trust beneficiary, in her #trust lawsuit, also claimed that the #trust company and her mother and brother committed #conspiracy— to cover up their #misappropriation of #trust money by providing the trust beneficiary with an incomplete copy of the #trust documents.
The #trust litigation was dismissed based on a legal principal that New York was not the most convenient forum. Yet there was another more convenient place to litigate this #trust dispute: Switzerland.
#TRUSTEE FILES #TRUST LAWSUIT IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE BAHAMAS
The bank which was the #trustee filed a #trust action in the Bahamas, asking for a #trust declaration that certain documents were authentic. Evidently, there was an ongoing disagreement about how much #trust money there actually was supposed to be in the trust, with a suggestion that the trust money may actually have been worth double – – – $44 million. There were also questions about which #trust documents were authentic.
So now you have a #trust lawsuit which is touching three different countries: #United States, the Bahamas, and Switzerland. Imagine the frequent flyer miles and the legal bills for the #trust litigators. This New York federal court determined that the #trust beneficiaries lawsuit could not go forward in this particular court based, in part, upon the prior ruling that there was a more convenient forum to litigate this #trust money lawsuit.
FOR REFERRAL SOURCES, LAWYERS AND LITIGATORS
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Our #Florida probate law firm
- does not draft estate plans
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Our #West Palm Beach, Florida #probate litigation firm :
- hands your clients back to you at the conclusion of the #Florida litigation—after all, they are YOUR clients
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- we work with you on #Florida estate administration, #Florida probate
- we litigate for and protect beneficiary rights
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Who are we? Our firm is comprised of
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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.