Are you a beneficiary of a large trust in West Palm Beach? Do you know what obligations your trustee owes you? Failure to maintain fiduciary duties may result in hefty liability for a West Palm Beach trustee but do you know what remedies you are afforded? Read more to learn about what duties your trustee owes you and more importantly what remedy you have if they breach that duty.
Trustee Duties
- A trustee has a variety of fiduciary duties in West Palm Beach.
- This includes a duty to not comingle funds.
- Also the trustee can never self deal or profit off of the trust.
- A trustee cannot loan themselves trust funds even if they pay it back with interest.
- A trustee also owes you a duty of loyalty.
- Finally a trustee owes you a duty of prudence in investing.
- Did you know in Florida that even when a trust directs a trustee to only hold one type of stock they may also still have a duty to diversify?
- What can you do when a trustee in West Palm Beach breaches their duty?
- The first thing to do is to sue in West Palm Beach probate court.
- Do you know what you are going to ask the Court for?
- What relief do you want?
- You have some options check them out.
Choice 1: Ratify the Breach
- Lets say that the trustee invests all of your money in one stock and that stock sky rockets.
- Did the trustee breach his duty?
- Absolutely, but you can choose to ratify the breach, keep the profit and waive a right to sue in West Palm Beach probate court.
Choice 2: An action in Surcharge
- Surcharge is the legal name for a lawsuit brought by a trustee suing for losses.
- When ratification would make no sense usually you are looking at an action in surcharge.
- Do you know what you will have to show the West Palm Beach probate court in order to succeed in collect from the trustee?
Choice 3:Tracing
- You can elect to trace the bad trades and actions and hold the trustee liable.
- This is usually a choice that is selected when the trustee was engaged in self-dealing.
- The Court will literally trace the actions of the trustee back and disgorge any benefit conferred on them improperly.
Want to learn more about your rights and remedies?
Check out our FAQ video library for more.