Breach of Trust: Recover Your Assets and Rights

Our firm specializes in navigating the high-stakes world of fiduciary accountability. We understand that a trust is built on a foundation of confidence, and when that confidence is shattered by trustee misconduct, immediate action is required.

• Fiduciary Duty Breach Representation:

We handle cases where trustees have failed in their primary obligations, including the duty of loyalty, the duty of impartiality among beneficiaries, and the duty of prudent investment.

• Management Negligence:

Not every breach is malicious; some are the result of gross incompetence. We address failures to properly manage real estate, stock portfolios, or business interests held within a trust.

• Proactive Advisory vs. Litigation:

While we strive to resolve disputes through mediation and structured settlement, we provide robust breach of trust representation in court when a trustee refuses to rectify their errors.

The term breach of trust covers a wide spectrum of bad behavior. Identifying exactly how a fiduciary has failed is the first step toward recovery.

• Self-Dealing and Conflicts of Interest:

This occurs when a trustee uses trust assets for their own benefit, such as purchasing trust property at a discount or making loans to themselves.

• Excessive Fees and Expenses:

Fiduciaries are entitled to reasonable compensation, but many take advantage by charging exorbitant fees that "drain" the trust's principal over time.

• Failure to Provide Accounting:

Beneficiaries have a legal right to know what is happening with the money. A trustee who hides records or provides "vague" reports is often hiding deeper issues.

• Accounting and Disclosure Obligations:

We frequently force the hand of evasive fiduciaries to produce formal, court-admissibility accountings that reveal the true state of the trust's finances.

When a case enters trust litigation, the court doesn't simply look at who is "unhappy." Judges use a specific framework to determine if a legal violation has occurred.

Timing is everything in fiduciary disputes. If you wait until the bank accounts are empty, recovery becomes exponentially more difficult.

• Active Loss of Assets:

If you suspect trust principal is being spent or shifted to private accounts right now, you need a trustee dispute counsel to seek an immediate injunction.

• Family Conflicts and Inheritance Battles:

When a family member is the trustee, emotions often cloud legal realities. We act as an objective shield, protecting your rights without permanently fracturing family ties when possible.

• Preserving Evidence:

Digital records and paper trails can "disappear." Engaging an attorney early ensures that bank records, emails, and transaction histories are legally preserved for future court use.

Our goal is simple: restore what was lost and remove the threat. We utilize a variety of equitable remedies to achieve this.

• Trustee Removal and Surcharge:

We petition the court for trustee removal to stop the bleeding. Furthermore, we pursue a "surcharge," which is a court order requiring the trustee to pay back the lost funds out of their own pocket.

• Accounting Demands:

We use the power of the court to demand full transparency, uncovering hidden assets or revealing where money was mismanaged.

• Asset Recovery and Constructive Trusts:

If a trustee has already spent the money on a new house or car, we can ask the court to place a "constructive trust" on those items, effectively reclaiming them for the beneficiaries.

Legal Note: A trustee's power is not absolute. They are legally bound to serve you, and the law provides powerful tools to correct their mistakes. You are not at the mercy of a bad fiduciary; you are the one the trust was built for.