CREDITOR SEEKS TRUST BENEFICIARY’S TRUST INTEREST TO SATISFY ¾ MILLION JUDGMENT
If a trust beneficiary owes you money, can you get that beneficiary’s trust interest from a trustee to pay you?
Q: Can you make a trust or a trustee pay you the money that a trust beneficiary owes you?
RECENT RELATED FLORIDA #TRUST CASE RE: GETTING TRUST MONEY FOR ALIMONY OR CHILD SUPPORT
On a related issue, over the last two weeks, this trust commentary revealed a very recent Florida trust case which permitted — perhaps required – – a #Florida trust to be used to pay a #trust beneficiary’s Florida alimony and child support.
But…………………… can you force a Florida trustee to give you trust money if you are owed money from a trust beneficiary for other reasons ? A very recent Florida appeals court issued a trust opinion just days ago which deals more with #jurisdiction over a trustee.
CREDITOR WINS JUDGMENT AGAINST TRUST BENEFICIARY —WHERE’S THE MONEY?
A Florida trust beneficiary was involved in a Florida lawsuit and lost — three quarters of $1 million. After the lawsuit, the winning party of the Florida lawsuit started Florida proceedings supplementary, trying to figure out how to get paid.
Florida proceedings supplementary are #Florida legal proceedings after you win. In this case, the victor wanted to implead a trustee and also a trust. The victor made some very strong allegations: the Trustee facilitated the fraudulent transfer of property to the Trust as part of an attempt to delay, hinder, or defraud the person who won the lawsuit.
This is serious stuff. A #trustee is being accused of #fraud.
TRUSTEE WANTS TRUST LAWSUIT DISMISSED
What did the trustee do?
- filed motions to dismiss the #trust lawsuit– impleader complaint— for lack of personal jurisdiction
- filed an affidavit that said the Trust was not created and administered in Florida
- denied owning Florida property
- said that the trust did not conduct business in Florida
- said that the trustee did not commit any wrongs in Florida
- argued that the trust was a Kentucky trust
TYPICAL FLORIDA TRUST VENUE AND TRUSTEE JURISDICTION FOR FLORIDA PROBATE COURT
This appears to be a very typical response to Florida litigation involving a non-Florida trust. Experienced Florida trust litigators are very familiar with these trial issues.
If a non-Florida trust is brought into a Florida lawsuit, the #Florida trial court must consider:
- does the Florida court have personal jurisdiction over the trustee ?
- does the Florida court have #subject matter jurisdiction over this trust ?
- where is trust venue proper — where should a trust lawsuit be filed?
FLORIDA TRUST LITIGATION ? FLORIDA TRUST CODE GIVES YOU ANSWERS
The Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, the Florida statutes, and the Florida trust code has statutes and rules which tell you under what circumstances an out-of-state trustee may be sued in Florida, when trust beneficiaries may be sued in Florida, and where trust litigation should be filed. Are you involved in a trust trial?
In this very recent #Florida appeals case, the Florida trial court was trying to determine whether the trustee could be sued in a Florida court, and whether or not Florida courts were the proper place for this #trust lawsuit.
Did the person who won a three-quarter million dollar judgment against a #trust beneficiary get to stay in a #Florida court…… Or not?
FOR REFERRAL SOURCES, LAWYERS AND LITIGATORS
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 litigation—after all, they are YOUR clients
- we try cases & handle appeals
- our practice is restricted to Florida probate disputes & contested guardianship
- 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,
- 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 sub specialty 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.