Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Louisiana
I am, to the best of my knowledge, the beneficiary of an educational trust along with my 3 siblings. However, I have never seen the terms of the trust (for example, under what conditions the money is disbursed, and what specifically I may be owed). A family member is the Trustee and collects a fee for her supposed services. I have only received a small amount of money for school, while, due to favoritism within the family, another sibling is getting a large amount. I would like to see the terms of the trust (is it called something else?), but the Trustee will not give them to me. The bank says that I cannot access the terms because I am not the account holder. What recourse do I have? How do I obtain the details/terms of the trust so that I know what I am entitled to?
2 Answers from Attorneys
The trustee is required to provide an accounting annually to the beneficiaries of the trust. Send a request for the accounting to the trustee by certified mail.
Failure to provide the accounting can be grounds for removal of the trustee.
That is excellent advice. Additionally, if the trust was set up by way of a will, the Court where the will was probated should have a copy of the trust instruments in the succession records on file with the Clerk of Court. You can go to the Clerk of Court where the will was probated (the 4th Floor of Civil District Court if it was Orleans Parish) and have them look up the record by the name of the deceased party. They will then pull the record and you can view it. It is public record and anyone can view it. They may have to pull the record out of storage, so it may take you more than one trip.
Mr. Maguire is certainly correct, though. The trustee is required by law to make an accounting to the beneficiaries and if he fails to do so, or fails to perform his duties as required by the trust, he can be removed.
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