Need Help

I live in Hawaii and along with my older brother am a beneficiary of a trust which consists of properties and a small business. One of the biggest that we are having is that the executor/trustee has issues with us ie. she hates us. Because of her dislike of us we have not been allowed to see my grandfather's will or any other documents regarding what we will be getting or any stipulations thereof for over 5 years. I was just wondering if any of you had any advise as to how to get a copy of the will and what legal rights do we hold as beneficiaries. Also we have recently felt that she is mismanaging the trust for her and her families own personal gain. So I was also wondering what actions we can take to remove her from a position of trusteeship if any.
Thank you very much for your time any guidance is greatly appreciated. It has been a long struggle and I just really hope to resolve this matter already.

I would strongly suggest in a case such as this that you contact an estate or probate attorney with the particulars of your situation as soon as possible. There may be sufficient cause to file a Breach of Fiduciary lawsuit, if it can be proven your trustee is not acting in accordance with the will. (Or even the law.) She's required by law to administer the estate in the best interests of the principals involved, may not profit from the estate and above all else, is required to consciously avoid conflicts of interests. Yes, you are entitled to a copy of the will if in fact you are a beneficiary and in my opinion, one of her first duties should've been to distribute copies to all beneficiaries at the outset. Certainly, you should've been provided one at this late date, along with any other documentation associated with the will. Has she ever provided a detailed accounting to date to any of the beneficiaries? You're entitled to one. She should be required by law to file reports with the courts on a regular basis; again, you're entitled to copies as well. You have a right to be alarmed by the lack of cooperation and answers .. based on your post, I'd seriously question all that you have and more. http://www.legalmatch.com/law-librar...-trustees.html,http://www.legalmatch.com/law-librar...-executor.html and http://www.legalmatch.com/law-librar...istration.html may help.

You may be able to obtain a copy of the recorded will through the county of record. Active probate records may be available (depending on your state's law and procedure.) I've forwarded a link via private message that may be of help, but a telephone call to your local county courthouse may be well worth it. The clerk should be able to answer many of your questions, including availability of the documents you're looking for and the particular procedure to get them. Again, I do believe you need an attorney's guidance on this one .. the sooner, the better.

Good luck.

Thanks for all you're advice. To my knowledge no detailed accounting records have been given to either me or my brother, however my surviving grandmother may have been given a record. She however is not willing to help us get any more information in regards to the estate because she feels that we should just be patient and wait. My brother had spoken to a friend who is an attorney and was advised that he would need the name of the lawyer who filed the will with the court to be able to get a copy is this normal procedure? In any case, I am going to try and contact the court house tomorrow and see if they can offer any assistance. Anyway thank you so much for your advice. I used the link you provided but was unable to find any case regarding my grandfathers name except a settled lawsuit and absolutely nothing in the name of the trustee in question.

Using the attorney's name to locate the will may be an easier way to track it down, especially if it's still in probate, and yes, it's just another method of locating any pertinent filed documents of record. I'm curious here: did you ever receive written notification from the executor (or anyone) advising you she'd been named to administer the will? Have you ever received any legal correspondence in the past 2 years? By law, all principals should be kept advised of the progress.. sometimes, it takes a bit of prodding to receive written status/accounting. As a principal, you should be kept current with the proceedings.

A thought here: you may want to check your county and find out who's been paying the taxes on all of your grandfather's real estate since his passing. Again, that may take some digging and a bit of persistence on your part, but I beleive it would be well worth your efforts. While I'm not remotely suggesting this is the case, property can be acquired and transferred to a 3rd party simply by paying property taxes for a certain length of time, depending on the state, and then transferring title. Do you know for a fact that all properties are still in your grandfather's name? A title search would answer that one.

Again, I can't recommend an attorney's intervention strongly enough. At the very least, he/she can petition the courts for a copy of the will, a current (and past) accounting and if misconduct/misbehaviour is discovered, can also petition for a change of executor. In my opinion, that's the only real way you can be assured all of the principals interests are being protected.

Thanks again for the advice. Today I contacted the court clerk and they were very helpful. They said for a $5 search fee that they could search the probate records for me and possibly give me a copy for a price. I will be going down sometime in the next week or so. In regards to attaining a lawyer in these matters I'm just a little apprehensive of the cost not to mention the backlash from the family, but it is a route that I will investigate more maybe try to get a free consult and see if it is really worth pursuing. As far as your questions we have received no communication about the estate in regards to any legal issue including the naming of executor/administrator. The limited knowledge we have received have been from family members mostly my grandmother. The woman in question has refused to give us any information regarding the estate going as far as running out and having my brother forbidden from going to the family jewelery shop (which she manages) because he had asked her who the attorney was that handled the will in attempts to find the document. The properties are all under the name of the his trust but also tied into a trust created for my grandmother and as far as I know revenue from the trust is being used to pay for the taxes. However, some have said that some properties from the estate were sold is it possible/legal for the trustee to sell properties like that.

You shouldn't be in the dark as much as you sound, especially if property has already been sold. All proceeds from ANY sale belongs to the estate. Period. Even if they were used for "administrative costs." It may help to take another family member with you when you do decide to meet with an attorney; that way it won't sound quite so "one-sided." Again, good luck.