Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

I tried to send this message Thursday evening. Today I found an email notice that I had skipped a final step. On Thursday I sent successfully a second message with a fact I had left out of this one. I replied to the email receipt by adding the first part. I hope all the message fragments were not forwarded to different lawyers. I edited the question and tried again today to send it. Nothing happened when I clicked on "Ask Question" and "Submit".

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Is this time limit still valid in California?

"Unless requested in writing within sixty (60) days of appointment by an adult beneficiary of the trust, no successor Trustee shall have any duty to investigate or review any action of a predecessor Trustee and may accept the accounting records of the predecessor Trustee showing assets on hand without further investigation and without incurring any liability to any person claiming or having an interest in the trust."

The situation:

The same person, who is related to the Trustors, wrote the trust instruments, was the source of legal advice for both of them, and is Successor Trustee, Executor, and inheritor of a large share of the principal. He also was assigned Power of Attorney for Health Care and Durable Power of Attorney for business purposes.

Upon the death of the first Trustor, the trust was divided into three. I was named in all three as a beneficiary. One trust, probably the one that was still revocable, held principal for my health needs. This may be the one that held a percentage for my future inheritance but from which a check was occasionally sent to my bank account.

For seventeen years, I was the only named beneficiary not informed that the trust had been divided, or told the names. My attempts, oral and written, to be shown a trust instrument were ignored. I knew nothing of the 60-day deadline for an accounting request.

The trust document stating the condition was mailed to my post office box in another city more than a week after the death of the second Trustor. I found it a week later. I needed to download and study Division 9 of the Probate Code, study the trust documents, copy and organize thirty years' correspondence about that trust and another, compose a letter with my questions, and learn how to find a lawyer. I am in mourning and was not sleeping much. Eight days after the Successor Trustee took over, I realized that the 120 days in the notice were for contesting the trust, not for requesting an accounting. The accounting is very important: I suspect irregularities. I finished the letter late yesterday. The Successor Trustee's lawyer's office was about to close until Tuesday; there was no time for personal service. One friend served it by fax before 5:30 PM; another served it by Certified Mail. Yesterday would be the sixtieth day if the date of mailing of the trust document, rather than the date of the Trustor's death, were the deadline. Was I too late?


Asked on 5/28/11, 4:31 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Donald Field Donald L. Field, Jr., Attorney at Law

the provision which concerns you appears to apply to the period before the successor trustee became trustee, rather than any current or ongoing accounting requirements. in any case, you should retain a qualified attorney immediately to provide you with advise regarding this important matter.

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Answered on 5/30/11, 8:38 am


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