Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
What are my options? The successor trustee and alternate trustee of my mothers trust have passed away (they were married)They died 8 months ago and we just found out. My son is the beneficiary and is now 22 and in the military. When my mother died, there was a condo (paid off) and liquid assets. But now (15 yrs later) there is no more money left in the trust and only the condo remains. The trust says that my son does not get 100% of the principal until he is 35. Nothing has been paid since Dec (i have made arrangements to pay past due HOA fees) but with no extra money I am having a hard time finding an attorney who will go to court and either petition to terminate the trust or appoint a new trustee. Although no money to compensate trustee makes it hard too. My son wants me to be appointed but I was told I would not be bondable since I do not own property. Does anyone have any suggestions on what we can do? We are worried because although we are willing to go without and pay the past dues fees and taxes, now that the insurance has been cancelled due to non-payment, since I am not the trustee, we cannot get insurance on the condo.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Have you son check with his JAG officer and they may be able to get a pro bono attorney in your area to help you out. Ultimately, the condo may have to be sold to pay the expenses.
The court document needs to be reviewed to see if there is a mechanism for appointing a trustee without court approval. That's unlikely, but one never knows.
Your most viable option is to petition the court to have someone appointed trustee -- possibly you. That person can then either list the condo for sale or rent it out. The petition should not be too complicated. You may be able to get ex parte relief to step in on an interim basis to allow the condo to be rented.
Your cash flow situation is indeed a problem. You will need to come up with something to pay the court fees and retain your lawyer -- which the trust will reimburse once its cash flow situation improves.
This project should not be too complicated, provided everyone is in agreement as to what should hapen. Keep looking for attorneys here on LawGuru, on Avvo, with your local county bar association.
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