Palm Beach Trust FAQ’s: Can I recover my attorneys fees in a trust lawsuit?

If you are wondering if you can recover your attorneys fees in a Palm Beach trust lawsuit, that’s a GREAT question to ask your trust litigation firm Palm Beach. Or, perhaps even better, that’s a great question to consider, and, well, try to answer if you can, before you file a trust lawsuit in Palm Beach.

Consider this free Palm Beach trust video on whether you can recover your attorneys fees in a trust lawsuit in Florida: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZV5i9_VPps&feature=youtu.be

• The Florida Trust Code does provide for the recovery or payment of attorneys fees to the prevailing party in a Florida trust lawsuit.
• Make sure that Florida trust law actually applies and you are not, for example, dealing with a trust which is being administered, or run, down here in Boca Raton, for example, but the trust document actually reveals that the governing law is, say, New York, or Massachusetts.  In that case, look to NY or Mass. law.
• If you are a trust beneficiary and you prevail in your lawsuit, you may get attorneys fees.  One of the most common examples of this is the bad trustee who is operating the trust in secret: the trustee won’t give you statements, tell you where the trust money is, tell you what he or she is spending the trust money on, or how much the trustee is being paid.  You file a lawsuit in Palm Beach probate court for a trust accounting.  If the trustee failed to provide one to you within a reasonable time before the lawsuit, you have a great chance to recover your fees and probably from the trustee personally, not from your trust funds.  No guarantees. Each case is different.
• If you are the trustee, remember that a Florida trustee can hire a trust litigation firm Palm Beach and have that law firm paid for by the trust assets.
• Remember: if you are a trustee and are being sued for Breach of Trust, or what others may call breach of fiduciary duty by a trustee, there is a special provision in Chapter 736 of Florida Trust Law that requires you to give notice to the beneficiaries of the trustee’s intent to use trust funds to pay counsel. So, say, for example, that your best friend has passed away and named you as successor trustee of his Florida revocable living trust.  Don’t be surprised if you get sued by his adult children.  They may want more money out of trust, or may not want you involved as trustee.
• Also, remember that attorneys fees in Trust and Probate cases is almost a subspeciality:  requiring certain evidence, a full blown hearing or mini-trial in a Palm Beach probate court, and certain rules for the recovery of fees and the “reasonableness” of the fees (hourly rates and time entries are important).

Question:  Want to see more FAQ’s trust and probate vides for Palm Beach or Florida? Free.

Answer:   http://www.pankauskilawfirm.com/Firm-Overview/FAQS.shtml