When someone you love, be it a family member or friend, passes away, one of the ways they may decide to leave you some inheritance will be a through a trust. This is often a smart way to ensure that the money and/or assets that they leave you are safe until you are ready to receive them. However, trustees put in charge of your trust may not do their job properly for a number of reasons. In turn, you may have to remove a trustee.
Ergo, you can ensure that the wishes of the testator receive proper management. Or, the beneficiary that you are concerned about, such as a child who cannot represent themselves at this moment in time, receives the money and assets that rightfully belong to you.
Why would you seek to remove a trustee?
To remove a trustee, it’s often a case of necessity or of there being no other resort. There can be a multitude of reasons to do so.
For example, if the trustee becomes no longer fit to carry out the responsibilities associated with managing a trust. This could be due to illness or, indeed, their own death. But most likely, activities like heavy drinking or drug abuse inhibit one’s ability to responsibly handle the estate.
Another reason is that the trustee experiences undue influence from a third party. In turn, that influence causes them to mishandle the will. An example of this could be if the trustee enters into a new romantic relationship and this partner tries to encourage them to undermine the legality of the will and take funds and assets for themselves.
You can also remove a trustee when the testator declares multiple trustees take charge of the trust. Yet, in turn, they are unable to cooperate with each other.
How do you do it?
The removal of a trustee is not the easiest thing to do. You’ll need to present hard evidence, such as documents and testimony, of wrongdoing. Also, you must follow all proper procedures in doing so in order to remove a trustee.
The best way for you to achieve this, especially if you are not from a legal background, is to employ an estate litigation attorney. They can help you through the process and ensure that all the regulations and procedures are followed to the letter. As part of their job, they ensure nothing is done that could jeopardise your case. Trust dispute solicitors can give expert advice on this matter and help you with your case.
Why should you do this?
Seeing now what it takes to remove a trustee, it can seem like a lot of work. In turn, that might stop you from taking further action.
However, the person who left you this trust wanted you to benefit from it. So, it’s important for their wishes that a third party incapable of taking this responsibility seriously doesn’t interfere. Trust dispute lawyers can be on hand to help you find a resolution, seeking the best possible outcome in the shortest amount of time possible.