Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
My question -- under California estate law -- concerns the accounting rights of a trustee, the trustee of my father's trust. The trustee and my father were unmarried, lived in the same house for many years. She is a beneficiary of the trust as are my father's five children. Following my father's death, his house was sold. Covering the six months prior to the completion of that process, does the trustee have the right to have all utility bills, all house maintenance bills for that period become the estate's expense, fully paid for by the estate?
2 Answers from Attorneys
I assume the trustee/beneficiary lived in the house for the six months after death and prior to sell. Certain utilities would be continued to be paid by the trust even if the house was vacant - i.e., water as a safety prevention in the event of a fire. However, other utilities are typically paid by the person occupying the house - i.e., telephone service - because that service is not necessary if the house is vacant.
It would depend on the terms of the trust. If the trust gave the trustee the right to occupy the property at trust expense, then yes. If not, then I agree that it would have to be pro-rated against what it would have cost to keep the utilities on in a vacant house for sale vs. occupied. Ditto for maintenance as far as what was incurred due to occupancy vs. what was incurred to make the house more marketable.
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