A trustee has a duty under the law to communicate with beneficiaries and keep them informed as to the progress of the trust administration. Depending on your state’s law, such duty to notify may require the trustee to give beneficiaries a copy of the trust document, provide information regarding the anticipated timeframe of the trust administration, and prepare an annual accounting (summary of the trust’s income and expenses). Unfortunately, some trustees violate this duty to inform, leaving beneficiaries in the dark about what is happening with the trust. Some trustees are ignorant of their responsibilities under the law and think that being a trustee means they can do whatever they want. Regardless, what should you do if your trustee is unresponsive to your requests for information regarding the trust?
First, if your trustee has not responded to you, examine your contact method. How have you tried to contact them? If you have left them a phone message, email them instead. If a text message has received no response, try sending a letter through the mail, possibly certified. And if you are argumentative or hostile, it is not surprising that the trustee is not responding, even if they must do so. If you cannot speak civilly to the trustee, keep all your communication in writing, be transparent about your questions and requests, and do so without accusations or threats. Suppose you have tried multiple methods of communication with your trustee in a civilized manner and still have received no response. Often, a sibling is named trustee of the parent's trust, and often, the siblings do not agree. In that case, it is probably time to take it to the next level involving the attorney.
Involving the attorney is a two-fold process. First, if an attorney represents the trustee, you can try contacting the trustee’s attorney. Even if a trustee does not understand their duty to inform and communicate with beneficiaries, the attorney should understand this duty and can encourage the trustee to comply with their duty or, if authorized by the trustee, communicate the information on behalf of the trustee. Depending on the legal engagement, the trustee may have arranged for their attorney to handle all communications with beneficiaries. You can contact the attorney by phone and then follow up with an email or letter outlining the information you seek and your attempts to contact the trustee.
Second, seek an attorney to represent you. An attorney can give you an impartial point of view and provide you with information about what your rights are and what steps you can take to enforce them. If emotions run high between you and the trustee, having an objective intermediary who can authoritatively describe the trustee’s duties and the beneficiary’s rights can help get the information going.
If your efforts to communicate with the trustee, either on your own or with the help of an attorney, are still being met with no response, then your last option is to file a petition with your local court. Consult an estate attorney with experience in trust administration before seeking court involvement, which often results in further delays and costs. Suppose a trustee does not respond to the petition. There, the court has the power to remove the trustee and to hold them liable for any damage the beneficiaries have suffered because the trustee refused to comply with their duty to inform. Additionally, filing a court petition opens an array of legal tools such as subpoenas, depositions, and requests for documents that can help you obtain the information you seek, either from the trustee or directly from third parties such as banks or financial institutions. Filing a petition with the court should not be your first step if a trustee refuses to respond to other efforts. However, it can become a beneficiary’s only option to get the information the beneficiary is entitled to.
Although a trustee is legally obligated to communicate with beneficiaries and provide them with certain information, a trustee can sometimes be unresponsive. Because they are ignorant of their duties, they have a fundamental misunderstanding of them or a variety of other reasons. Whatever the reason, if your trustee is not responding to your requests for information, give them the benefit of the doubt and try a different method. If that does not work, try contacting the attorney representing the trustee or hiring an attorney of your own. As a last resort, you may have to file a petition with the local court if the trustee remains unresponsive.
Should you find yourself in this situation or are having difficulty with your trustee, call the attorneys at Altman & Associates at 301-468-3220 or contact us through the website altmanassociates.net.
