Trustee Disagreements in San Marcos, CA? We Can Help
Resolving Conflicts Among Heirs and Trustees
Trust disputes can arise over mismanagement, unclear terms, or disagreements among beneficiaries. We represent clients in trust litigation with a focus on preserving relationships and achieving fair outcomes. Whether you’re challenging a trustee or defending your role, we provide skilled advocacy. Leo Law Office handles complex trust matters with diligence and discretion.
Breach of fiduciary duty
An executor has a legal obligation to manage and distribute a decedent’s estate in the best interest of the beneficiaries. Unfortunately, not all executors act in good faith—some mismanage assets, delay distributions, or commit fraud for personal gain. When this happens, it may constitute a breach of fiduciary duty, which can harm beneficiaries and undermine the estate plan. If you suspect an executor or trustee has violated their legal responsibilities, contact Leo Law Office to protect your rights and take legal action.
Understanding Fiduciary Duty & Executor Responsibilities
A fiduciary duty is the legal obligation to act solely in the best interests of another party. Executors, trustees, and personal representatives must handle estate tasks such as gathering assets, settling debts, managing taxes, and distributing property according to the will. Choosing the right executor or trustee is important—key qualities include honesty, financial responsibility, tax knowledge, and impartiality.
Signs of a Breach of Fiduciary Duty
Breach of fiduciary duty occurs when a fiduciary acts against the interests of the estate or its beneficiaries. Common examples include misappropriating funds, favoring themselves financially, selling assets below value, excessive compensation, missing court deadlines, and refusing to communicate with beneficiaries.
What to Do If You Suspect a Breach
If you are a beneficiary, heir, or other interested party affected by an executor’s misconduct, you may have legal grounds to remove them and seek restitution. The consequences for breaching fiduciary duty can be severe, including legal penalties and removal from the role. At Leo Law Office, we specialize in trust and estate litigation and are ready to help you take action if your rights have been violated.
Petitions to remove a trustee or Objections to removal
A petition to remove a trustee is possible by going through the probate court or the trust instrument itself. The removal of a trustee may be done upon the petition of a settlor, co-trustee, or beneficiary under Section 17200 of the California Probate Code. Any individual who objects to the removal of the trustee may file a form entitled “Objection to Petition to Remove Trustee.” If you believe a trustee is acting improperly, contact Leo Law Office to discuss your legal options and take the next steps toward protecting your rights and the integrity of the trust.
Petitions to remove a trustee or Objections to removal
When you establish a family trust, take some time to consider who should be your trustee. Unfortunately, even with the best of intentions, you may not always make the right choice. If the creator and/or co-creator of a family trust, a co-trustee, or a beneficiary of the trust feels that the trustee is acting improperly, there are ways to go about removing a trustee and/or replacing a trustee.
When a family trust is established, the trust agreement designates the trustee and/or co-trustees. It also should designate one or more successor trustees in case the initial trustee(s) can no longer perform their duties. The successor trustee takes over in cases where the prior trustee resigns, dies, or is removed. Removing a trustee is a legal process that requires petitioning the probate court and is governed by the terms of the trust agreement and by state law.
Trust agreements usually allow the trustor to freely remove a trustee during their lifetime. The trustor is still living, he or she does not need to give a reason for the removal and can simply execute an amendment to the trust agreement.
In cases where the trustor is either deceased or incapacitated, the problem becomes one for the co-trustee, successor trustee or beneficiaries. Removal can be initiated by a co-trustee, successor trustee or a beneficiary of the trust. This can happen in cases in which a conflict arises between co-trustees, and one is seeking to remove the other or where a successor trustee or beneficiary believes the current trustee is failing to perform its trust duties.
A party seeking to remove a trustee will need to file a petition with the court to have them removed unless the current trustee agrees to the removal.
Reasons to remove a trustee
Legal grounds for removing a trustee from a family trust may include:
- Violating the agreement
- Mismanaging assets, whether intentionally or through negligence
- Fraud or misappropriation of trust assets
- Charging excessive fees
- A decline in mental capacity
- Financial insolvency of the trustee
- Conflict of interest
- Lack of cooperation with other trustees or beneficiaries
- Breach of fiduciary duty
Taking your case to the court
Petitioning the court to remove a trustee can be filed in probate court. Sufficient evidence must be submitted to the court demonstrating that the trustee has violated the trust agreement or their fiduciary duty and that replacing them is in the best interest of the trust.
Removal and/or replacing a trustee and establishing a trust, should not be undertaken without the help of a competent and experienced trust and estate litigation attorney. The Leo Law Office handles petitions to remove a trustee as well as other trust administration responsibilities. Contact our office to request a consultation.
Understanding and Resolving Beneficiary Disputes
During the probate process, it is not uncommon for disagreements to arise between the trustee and the beneficiaries of a trust. Disputes between a trustee and one or more of the beneficiaries present a significant challenge. Some common areas of dispute among trustees and beneficiaries include not providing an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, and interference with an expected inheritance. Resolving these types of disputes can be handled through litigation or Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) approaches, including arbitration or mediation. If you're involved in a trust dispute, contact Leo Law Office to explore your options and protect your interests through experienced legal guidance.
Filing a Heggstad Petition
In some situations, the grantor of a trust overlooks certain assets and/or fails to transfer assets into their trust for any number of reasons. Typically, those assets would have to go through probate before they are disbursed to beneficiaries. Filing a Heggstad Petition may allow the transfer of those assets directly into the trust, thereby bypassing probate. If you believe a Heggstad Petition may apply to your situation, contact Leo Law Office today to find out how we can help protect your interests and streamline the process.
What is a Heggstad Petition?
A popular estate planning vehicle for many people is the living trust. A living trust is a legal document that is created during your lifetime in which a designated person, the trustee, is responsible for managing your assets for the benefit of your beneficiaries after your death. The purpose of creating a living trust is to ensure a seamless transfer of your assets while bypassing the probate process — which can be costly as well as time-consuming.
The assets that you place in your trust are available to you and remain under your control until after your death, or if you should become incapacitated. However, over the years, you may end up inheriting property or other assets which you neglect to put in your living trust. You may have removed property from your trust in order to refinance, but then never got around to retitling it in the name of the trust. Or you simply failed to title some real estate, bank, or investment accounts in the name of the trust.
Whatever the reason, property or assets not included in a deceased person’s living trust at the time of their death would typically have to go through the probate process before being distributed to the beneficiaries. However, California Probate Code 850 provides the option of skipping the time-consuming and costly probate process with a Heggstad Petition.
Do you need one?
The ultimate goal of filing a Heggstad Petition is to avoid California’s costly probate process. However, the key to filing a Heggstad Petition is all about being able to provide proof of the decedent’s intent to have the property or assets in question transferred into the trust before their death. Due to an oversight or mistake on their part, the transfer was never completed; therefore, those assets were not included as part of the trust assets.
The process of filing a Heggstad Petition is generally started by the trustee successor of a living trust following the passing of the trustor, a beneficiary such as parent, spouse, child, or other interested party after they contact an estate planning attorney who is experienced in probate law.
How to file a Heggstad Petition
While each situation is unique, the following is a list of some of the documentation needed to better ensure your chances of having a successful outcome when filing a Heggstad Petition in California:
- A copy of the living trust of the decedent
- The schedule of assets for the living trust
- Property deed(s)
- Information about the decedent, heirs, and beneficiaries
- After reviewing all of the documentation and the particulars, your probate attorney will let you know if any additional information is required to file the petition.
Once you have filed your petition, there will be a hearing for the petition at which time you may present all of the pertinent documentation. The Heggstad Petition process generally takes about 60 days from preparing the documentation and filing the petition until the judge renders a decision.
The Leo Law Office, located in San Diego County, handles a variety of issues involved in trust and estate litigation, including filing Heggstad Petitions for transfer of property to a trust.
Why Choose Leo Law Office as Your Trust Litigation Attorney?
If you're facing a dispute over a trust, you need a trust litigation attorney with experience. Clients count on a trust litigation attorney to protect their inheritance and resolve conflicts. Every trust litigation attorney on our team works to achieve fair outcomes quickly and discreetly. We know that choosing a trust litigation attorney is about both strategy and sensitivity. As your trust litigation attorney , we fight to uphold your rights and wishes.
Legal Insights & Updates
