Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

The difficulty here is that there are two sides to every story, and the judge has to determine which side is right and which side is wrong. It's not enough to stand up in court and state that the trustee's attorney drug this out on purpose to make more money. You have to provide the judge with a convincing argument, which is why the judge wants your objection in writing. And yes, when your objection is filed, the other side gets to have time to file a response to your objection - and giving them the same amount of time as you is only fair.

Also, keep in mind that the judge didn't actually have to give you four weeks to file an objection. Under the rules of court, objections are supposed to be filed at least a week before the hearing - the judge gave you a break because you're not an attorney. The judge could easily have ruled that since you didn't file an objection, he or she could have judged the fee petition on its merits disregarding your objection.

Also, trustee fees and the trustee attorney's fees are normally paid without having to petition the court for an order. So, the implication here is that the trustees and the attorneys are having to do this because you or other beneficiaries are objecting to these fees - they can't distribute until this situation is resolved, because if they did, you are another beneficiary could file a petition even though the trust hasn't got any money left, leaving the trustees on the hook. While I won't judge who is or isn't at fault here, it's apparent that the dispute you have regarding the fees and maybe the trust accounting is the cause for this delay.