Is there a need to formally resign my appointment as successor trustee?
March 13, 2017 4:56 PM Subscribe
YANML. I am the successor trustee of a living trust. The current trustee/beneficiary is extremely difficult to deal with and is getting worse, and now I want out in a big way, even though I don't actually have to do anything until the current trustee dies or is incapacitated.
Her attorney won't even return her calls anymore and when I call he tells me that there is no longer an attorney/client relationship. So do I simply refuse to serve as trustee when the time comes? I can't tell because she won't let me even see the trust documentation. I am thinking I just send her a notarized letter. I am in Maryland, by the way.
Her attorney won't even return her calls anymore and when I call he tells me that there is no longer an attorney/client relationship. So do I simply refuse to serve as trustee when the time comes? I can't tell because she won't let me even see the trust documentation. I am thinking I just send her a notarized letter. I am in Maryland, by the way.
Your question seems to understand this point, but just in case: you have no obligation whatsoever to serve as a successor trustee. You can just decline. But your timing question is a good one. If I were in your position, I would send a letter by certified mail outlining your inability to get meaningful information and your unwillingness to serve as successor trustee. I'd keep a copy of the letter and the signed receipt, and then not worry about it. By doing it now, rather than when you are up to the plate, you remove any question about your obligations (e.g. some claim that when it is your turn, it becomes your responsibility to find the next person in line and hand it off to them.)
(And PS because I feel like I gotta say it even though you already did: IANYL and all that. I am not licensed in your state and am not expert in the law of trusts.)
posted by AgentRocket at 5:15 PM on March 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
(And PS because I feel like I gotta say it even though you already did: IANYL and all that. I am not licensed in your state and am not expert in the law of trusts.)
posted by AgentRocket at 5:15 PM on March 13, 2017 [3 favorites]
Are you a beneficiary? It wouldn't be unusual for a settlor to not want a future beneficiary to see the trust.
Anyways, sending a letter is the classy way to do it. When there's there's no successor, a court may have to step in, which could be a headache for the beneficiaries. There could well be another successor, but ya never know.
TINLA, IANYL.
posted by jpe at 6:47 PM on March 13, 2017
Anyways, sending a letter is the classy way to do it. When there's there's no successor, a court may have to step in, which could be a headache for the beneficiaries. There could well be another successor, but ya never know.
TINLA, IANYL.
posted by jpe at 6:47 PM on March 13, 2017
Send both the lawyer and the trustee letters stating that you decline to be successor trustee. You can state your reasons, but you don't have to. We recently went through this with my mother's trust, and it was just that simple.
posted by Dolley at 8:36 AM on March 14, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Dolley at 8:36 AM on March 14, 2017 [2 favorites]
Agent Rocket and Dolley have it. "I hereby decline to serve as successor Trustee of the XYZ TRUST." Signed, you. Get it notarized if you want to save the future beneficiaries a boatload of hassles later. Sign a couple (things get lost).
posted by bluesky78987 at 8:35 PM on March 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by bluesky78987 at 8:35 PM on March 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by brownrd at 5:12 PM on March 13, 2017