Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Michigan

Re: out of state co-trustee

Trusts will vary slightly from state to state, but the essential provisions are fairly uniform throughout the states. Any probate/estate lawyer should be able to advise you concerning the provisions of your family trust.

Re: out of state co-trustee

Are you adversaries with your brother? If not, just hire the same Michigan lawyer. If you are adversaries, you can probably get an opinion in Arizona. However, the Arizona lawyer would be very hard pressed to do anything in Michigan, especially because he or she is not licensed in Michigan. William S. Stern 248-353-9400

Re: out of state co-trustee

You and your brother are co-trustees of the trust established by your parents. Therefore, each of you owe a fiduciary duty to all of the beneficiaries of the trust. If you and your brother are the only beneficiaries, then each of you owes a duty to the other to be fair, loyal, and to only act in the best interests of your brother, even though you are a beneficiary of the trust. If you and your brother are both trying to achieve the same goals, and you both agree on the distribution of the trust estate, then one lawyer could properly represent both trustees. If the two of you do not agree on everything, then it would be appropriate for you to retain separate counsel and it should be Michigan counsel. You might also consider resigning as co-trustee, then your brother would owe you a fiduciary duty, and he would be the decision maker how the assets are distributed according to the terms of the trust.

Re: out of state co-trustee

The short answer is that you should seek Michigan counsel.