Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Florida
Do I have to sign a receipt stating that I received a certain amount of my share of trust assets, when first, there is no actual accounting of what the trust is worth (the trustee has not kept us informed as to what the estate/trust was actually worth at the date of death of our mother, or in any of the months following except one � last March) and most importantly before actually receiving anything?
The trustee and the lawyer he hired to help him (the same one my mother hired to write up her will and trust, while she was receiving chemo from stage 4 lung cancer) insist that it is not unusual to sign a receipt BEFORE you actually receive something. The lawyer also stated that it's done all the time in his business. And that it's a question of trust and that if we didn't trust the trustee, we should fire him and let the court appoint an institution. Although he agrees with us that the trustee should have been keeping up apprised of our mother's estate and trust throughout this past year since she's passed away.
I'm no rocket scientist, but I never heard of signing anything like this (where you state that you received something (in an unknown amount, no less) when you haven't. Especially something from a lawyer that's probably more binding than a simple slip written by a non-law person.
Thank you for help in this,
frustrated and disgusted in NY
(everything is done in Florida and everyone except myself are in Florida)
1 Answer from Attorneys
The common practice is to attach the entire accounting to a receipt indicating what you share is based on the accounting. The receipt is sent in most cases make sure you agree and the check is mailed upon receipt of your receipt.. If there was no accounting how could you acknowledge you got all the money that you are entitled to from the estate/trust? If you can't resolve this send me an e-mail or call me to discuss further.
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