Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania
My mom's aunt passed away.In her will she left my share in a trust.The attorney who prepared the will and set up the trust informed me that there is no trust document, that the only trust language was what was written in the will, which states verbatim: Timothy's share shall be held in trust for & during his natural lifetime.I appoint Sally S.Saeger trustee, and if she can not serve for any reason, either before or during her service, then I appoint Tricia S. Weider , as trustee, and if she can not serve, either before or during her service, then I appoint Tammy S. Saeger as trustee.On Timothy's death or if he is not living, in order to take hereunder, the amount remaining in his trust shall be distributed to his issue per stirpes and if he shall leave no issue living in order to take hereunder, then his share shall go to the remaining grandnieces & grandnephews.Meanwhile the trustee shall distribute all the income to him at least annually and, in the trustees discretion, the trustee may distribute principal to him for his health,maintenance support.
The trust is made up of stock worth $94,000 & there will be another $75,000 in cash will be put in once the estate is finalized.
My question is this: can the trustee sell the stock that does not pay a dividend & distribute that money to me for support I.e.to pay bills, pay rent, groceries.
I am not working at the moment & the trustee knows this but the trustee is ignorant of trust & contact law.
1 Answer from Attorneys
When a trust is contained in a will, then it can be a testamentary trust. In such case, the portions of the will which create the trust are the trust documents; nothing separate is required.
Yes and no. As per the trust, the monies and other assets are held in trust for you for life. The trustee can sell stock and reinvest the proceeds in something else. However, the trustee only has to pay you income from the trust once a year. It is up to the trustee as to whether she should release any principal to you for "health, maintenance and support." The trust is totally discretionary as to whether any principal can be released to you. I can't see a court making the trustee disburse principal to you because it is discretionary with the trustee and there is no directions as to how the trustee is to use her discretion. Only the disbursement of the income can be compelled.
The trust does not contain enough assets to support you for the rest of your life so as to excuse you from going out and getting a job. However, prudent management of the trust would entail selling this unproductive stock and investing the money with a professional money manager and making it produce income such that it could pay you.
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