Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Florida

banks responsability/ trust fund

I am an income beneficiary of 3 trust funds that were left to myself and 2 other family members all are income beneficiaries, the trusts are with a large bank in FL the bank was left executor of the trust as executor of the will it was a roll over will. Here is the problem I have been a beneficiary for a little over 2 years and in the last 9 months or so the bank has lost over 100,000 of the principal amount of the trust to the stock market(none of the beneficiary have any choice in how the bank invests the money as the bank is the executor or so this is what we were told by the bank) We have told the bank over and over again since the beginning of the year that the stock market was volatile and we wanted the money secure but still making money. Of course they ignored us and continued to invest OUR money as they wished and now it has lost a HUGE amount of principal to date which is outrageous. Do we have any legal rights against the bank for not protecting our money as they could have changed they way it was invested but they continued as if the market was fine. I was talking with someone who is a financial adviser and I was told that the bank holds a fiduciary responsibility to us the beneficiaries


Asked on 5/12/09, 12:00 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Scott Riddle Law Office of Scott B. Riddle, LLC

Re: banks responsability/ trust fund

Your issue is not solved on a message board. See a lawyer to review all documents and facts, including the trust documents that the trustee is bound to follow. It is not simply YOUR money.

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Answered on 5/12/09, 8:04 am
Alan Wagner Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore P.A.

Re: banks responsability/ trust fund

It is not "your" money. Whether you have a claim depends on the specific wording of the trust document itself, the investments that were made and the Bank's discretionary powers in the trust. Losing money in the market in the last year is not unusual. If it had been somewhere "safe" it may have lost too. Virtually all investments are down.

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Answered on 5/12/09, 8:27 am


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