CAN I PROHIBIT A #FLORIDA TRUSTEE FROM USING #TRUST FUNDS TO PAY THE #TRUSTEE’S LAWYERS ? — a look at the #Florida Trust Code and a #Trustee’s duty of loyalty
TRUST LITIGATION : ISN’T THE TRUSTEE YOU ARE SUING USING YOUR MONEY TO DEFEND ?
If I’m a #Florida trust beneficiary living in, say, #Palm Beach, Florida and I’m upset with my #Florida trustee, I know that I can begin a #trust lawsuit by filing a #trust complaint in #probate court.
Q: But won’t the #Florida trustee use #trust money — my money — to pay his #trust lawyers to fight me ?
A: Maybe…………. Maybe not .
FLORIDA’S #DUTY OF LOYALTY OWED BY #FLORIDA TRUSTEES TO #TRUST BENEFICIARIES
The #Florida Trust Code has a specific statute which governs the use of #trust funds by #Florida trustees to pay, or not pay, #trust lawyers for a trustee from #trust money.
There is no doubt that a #Florida trustee has duty of loyalty.
However, there is a specific #trust procedure w hen #Florida trust beneficiaries sue #Florida trustees.
BREACH OF TRUST ALLEGATIONS
If you sue a Trustee for breach of trust — breach of fiduciary duty — the #trustee is supposed to give you written notice of its intent to use #trust money to pay his or her #trust litigators.
You can file a motion with the #probate court to prohibit that. You get your day in court — a “mini” #trust trial.
TRUST LITIGATION IN FLORIDA
There are many experienced and excellent #trust litigators Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade, Florida. Many know about this part of the #Florida Trust Code. #Trust litigators from Palm Beach Gardens to Boca Raton to Weston and Aventura realize that a trustee’s duty of loyalty includes a duty to follow the Florida Trust Code and the Florida Probate Rules, as well as complying with a trustee’s duty of loyalty.
After all, the #trustee, when the #Florida trustee agreed to serve as trustee, agreed to serve the #trust beneficiaries — and place the interests of the trust beneficiaries above everyone else’s, including the #trustee’s own self interest.
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.