New York Trust Litigation Attorneys
No One Cheats You Like Family
If you are the beneficiary of a trust and you didn’t get what you are entitled to, you need an experienced New York commercial litigation attorney who handles trust litigation cases. Our New York commercial litigation attorneys, who handle trust cases, know that all too often, a family member created a trust for your benefit, but the person they left in charge of your trust, treated the trust as if it existed for their own benefit. Too often trustees forget that the trust, is for the benefit of the beneficiary and not the trustee. If you believe that you were cheated out of your trust, or didn’t get all the money that you were entitled to under the trust, call our New York trust litigation attorneys.
Our trust litigation attorneys, know that the beneficiaries are often at a financial disadvantage, compared to those who have control of the trust. Our commercial litigation lawyers also know that this disparity in assets and information, can make it difficult to get the justice that the beneficiary of the trust deserves. If you are the beneficiary of a trust and were cheated out of your trust assets, and you cannot afford to pay high hourly fees to hire experienced N.Y.C. commercial litigation lawyers, our New York trust litigation attorneys frequently take trust cases on contingency. In other words, we take trust cases on contingency so that an inability to pay an attorney’s fee does not prevent the beneficiaries from recovering the trust property, that is theirs, in the first place. We take the risk of not getting paid, so that you can get what you deserve.
Come and Have a Discussion With Our Trust Lawyers.
What Are My Rights If I Have A Trust And I Don't Think I Received What I Was Entitled To?
Our New York trust lawsuit lawyers know that every beneficiary has a right to an accounting. The trustee is required to maintain records of all of the transactions involving trust property. You as the beneficiary have a right to see what the trustee is doing with the money or investments that were set up for your benefit.
The Trust Exists For Your Benefit- Not The Trustee's Benefit
The most fundamental duty a Trustee owes to the beneficiary is the duty of loyalty and it is implicit in a trustee’s duty of loyalty that they are prohibited from self dealing.
An Accounting You Have The Right To Know
As a beneficiary of a trust, you are entitled to have the trustee, account to you, for the manner in which your trust was administered and how your money was used. If you didn’t get what you were entitled to, you have the right to know that and to pursue legal remedies.
Breach Of Fiduciary Duty
A fiduciary is one who is responsible to act for the benefit of another. New York law requires that fiduciaries act with loyalty towards the beneficiaries and that they refrain from acting in their own self interest. So if a trustee failed to act for the interest of a beneficiary, engaged in transactions where they had a conflict of interest, or engaged in self dealing, the trustee can be sued for the amount of money that the trust lost.
Conversion The Law Requires Trustees To Repay What They Have Taken
Where a trustee uses trust funds improperly, such as paying himself or herself trust property that they were not entitled to, or transfers trust property for less than full value to themselves or another, they can be sued for conversion of trust assets.
Aiding And Abetting The Law Follows Trust Property Into Whoever's Hands It Lands
If another person engaged in inappropriate transactions with the trustee, which cost the trust to lose money or trust property at an unfair value, both the trustee and the person who received an unfair advantage from the trust can be sued. A common example includes giving the trustee’s family members loans, or investing trust funds in appropriate investments, where their family members directly benefit.
Who Can Sue For An Accounting
New York Law has recognized that whoever has an interest in trust property or funds has a right to sue for an accounting of the trust funds. So if you have requested information from the trustee and were stonewalled, or if they always find a way to avoid providing an accounting, call our NYC commercial litigation attorneys, to pursue an accounting and find out what you are due. Our NYC and Westchester commercial litigation attorneys know that the most common reason that trustees try to avoid providing information is that money is missing.
When Can I Sue For Conversion
A conversion occurs when one who owns property and has a right to possession of personal property proves that the property is in the unauthorized possession of another who has acted to exclude the rights of the owner. In the context of a trust, a conversion happens when the trustee steals the trust property or uses it for an unauthorized purpose to benefit themselves. If the trustee has used trust funds or other property for their own benefit, you can sue them for conversion, and they have to repay the trust, all of the funds they converted.
What If The Trustee Claims They Didn't Know What That They Were Responsible
Our NYC commercial litigation attorneys are stranger to the various excuses that crooked trustees come up with. New York law does not allow a person to benefit from their own failure to review the trust documents. A trustee is obligated to familiarize themselves with the applicable rules and duties to the beneficiaries and ignorance of their legal responsibilities is not an excuse for mismanagement.
What If Shares Of A Family Business Were Placed In A Trust
The basic New York rule that distributions received by a trustee from corporate funds are allocable, principal to the trust fund and constitute income to the beneficiaries. The rule has been applied in a variety of circumstances, such as payments or distributions in liquidation payments in partial liquidation or transactions in the nature of partial liquidations dividends in stock of other corporations; and extraordinary dividends. So if stock of a close corporation is placed in trust, the trust must still account for the value.
What If The Trust Says The Trustee Can't Be Sued Or Held Responsible
These types of limitation are legally void as against public policy. New York’s Estate Powers and Trust Law 11-1.7 states in pertinent part that the attempted grant to a trustee of immunity for an exoneration of such fiduciary from liability for failure to exercise reasonable care, diligence and prudence is contrary to New York’s public policy. Exculpatory clauses in the trust are only enforceable, for acts and omissions which were not intentional, thus it does not exculpate a trustee for intentional and willful misconduct in misappropriating the trust’s property.
How Long Do I Have To File A Lawsuit?
One of the most common questions that our New York trust lawsuit attorneys are asked is how much time do I have to file a lawsuit. The applicable limitations period depends on the substantive remedy that the plaintiff seeks. For example the statute of limitations for conversion is one year, but the statutes of limitations for breach of fiduciary duty and for equitable remedies, like an accounting are six years.
One of the most common questions that our Westchester and NYC commercial litigation attorneys are asked, is “Am I Out of Luck If The Trustee Stole Money More Than Six Years Ago?” The answer is usually NO, because of the accrual date. Often times the accrual date in a trust case is more important than the statute of limitations. Accrual means when the time for a statute of limitations defense begins to run.
In the trust context, the statute of limitations for any cause of action, is measured from the time that the trustee openly repudiated his or her obligation or the relationship has been otherwise terminated. In other words, as long as the trustee remains the trustee, the statute of limitations has not yet begun to run. For the statute of limitations to bar an action in the trust context, mere lapse of time is not sufficient, but an act of repudiation which is made known to the beneficiaries is necessary. This law prevents crooked trustees who steal from the trust from getting away with it, just because they kept the beneficiary in the dark, about what they were doing. New York law recognizes that until that repudiation occurs the beneficiaries of the trust are entitled to assume that the trustee if performing their responsibilities.
Trust beneficiaries also can benefit from the Estoppel rule. Affirmative wrongdoing and concealment by a fiduciary are equitable grounds to estop a
party from asserting the statute of limitations as a defense. Where the fiduciary commits a fraud or concealment, the statute of limitations does not run on an accounting claim.
Causes of action for fraudulent breach of fiduciary duty, and aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty, are subject to a two-year discovery rule, that runs from the time a trustee knew or with reasonable diligence could have discovered, the wrongdoing, if that is later than the applicable statute of limitations.
So if you are a beneficiary who suspects that the trust was mismanaged or the trustee engaged in self dealing, don’t just assume that it is too late to do anything about it. Call our New York City and Westchester Trust Litigation attorneys.
Law Office of Michael H. Joseph, PLLC
The Law Office of Michael H. Joseph, PLLC, has been helping injured victims recover compensation for their injuries for over 25 years. Our attorneys are members of several prestigious organizations, including:
- New York State Trial Lawyers Association
- American Association for Justice
- New York County Bar Association
- Westchester County Bar Association
To request your free initial consultation with our team, call our New York City office at (212) 858-0503 or our White Plains office at (914) 574-8330. You can also request a case review online.
