TRUST & ESTATE LITIGATION

Family inheritance issues can be some of the most contentious and emotional legal disputes. Some common examples of case problems and themes are second marriages, stepchildren, sibling rivalry, mismanagement of trust or estate assets and a failure to properly invest trust or estate assets. The beneficiaries may file a claim against the trustee, personal representative or investment adviser. If you are one of these representatives, you may be facing a claim from a disgruntled beneficiary.

Trust management issues are another area of frequent legal dispute. The Florida Trust Code sets forth all of the duties and responsibilities of a trustee. If someone has been made a trustee, they should be aware of the legal duties that they hold. We frequently handle claims where the trustee is not acting in the best interests of the beneficiaries, is failing to administer the trust in a proper manner, is failing to fund a trust as per the original trust documents, is failing to make periodic distributions from a trust or is failing to sell an unproductive trust asset. Any of these actions by a trustee can result in losses to the beneficiary and can constitute a reason for having the trustee removed.