Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Can one beneficiary demand a buyout - Living Trust
My parents had an AB trust. Mother & I were estranged, so when trust was created, she talked my father into disinheriting me, dividing bet. my sister and my first 2 children (now grown). After her death in 1997, my father went to an atty and amended his part of the trust (was done--name removed--atty & notarized) to--name removed--divided bet. me and my sister. My sister is successor trustee and has decided to retain the duplex as a rental instead of selling. Can I, as a 1/4 beneficiary, request that my share--name removed--bought out? I do not want to--name removed--business partners with my family members? Thanks for your help
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Can one beneficiary demand a buyout - Living Trust
Yes you can but you will probably have to go to court to do it.
Re: Can one beneficiary demand a buyout - Living Trust
First check the terms of the trust--does it require the property to be sold?
If not, negotiation or mediation is probably the best choice. You can force a partition sale in the court, but this would probably not bring a full value sales price.
One other angle is that if the property is still being held in the trust, the trustees have a duty to properly diversify the investments--holding one piece of real estate in the trust is probably not good diversification, so this may force them to sell as well.
Re: Can one beneficiary demand a buyout - Living Trust
Generally no. It is always best to negotiate, but you could consider a partition and sale action as an undivided owner of the real estate.
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