What are my options if I feel the trustee and trust lawyer are not acting in the best interest of the beneficiaries?

Your options are to continue to negotiate or to file a Petition in the County where the trust is administered, likely Sonoma County Superior Court, Probate Division. Trustees owe duties to beneficiaries, including accountings and information about the trust assets and administration. Go here: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html Click Probate and search 16000 to see the duties. Search 16060 also for laws about information you may have, and see 16062 specifically for accounting requirements by the trustee. Search 17200 to see the matters you may Petition the probate court to fix. Know that this information is in no way a full list or full analysis. You should use a lawyer if you Petition. Before filing a Petition, it is good to ask for certain information in writing so that you may use the letters as evidenciary exhibits. The letters should be very polite because you are really "talking to the judge" and not the lawyer or trustee...the letters are to be evidence with the Petition. Generally, it is best to have a lawyer do this too. You should consult a trust / probate lawyer. Good luck.

You need to find a probate attorney as soon as possible to protect your interest. A trustee owes you a fiduciary duty as a beneficiary and is held to a high standard. Additionally, you should make all requests in writing to the trustee and their attorney to ensure that your requests are documented.

Stop messing around here. Get an estates litigation attorney involved immediately. This type of conduct is unacceptable. The trustee owes you a duty of loyalty and trust and lack of communicaiton may be indicative of greater problems. Get with counsel immediately. Do this NOW! Hope this helps. Please remember to designate a best answer to your question. Mr. Fromm is licensed to practice law throughout the state of PA with offices in Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties. He is authorized to handle IRS matters throughout the United States. His phone number is 215-735-2336 or his email address is [email protected] , his website for more tax, estate and business articles is www.sjfpc.com. and his blog is