Prohbited Transfer by Trustee?

[Zachary]

What is the name of your state? FL

This is a follow-up to a post back in June.
Just prior to my father's death, he changed his Trust and left everything to my brother, the Trustee. After the funeral, my brother said he would give me back the building that I was originally to receive prior to Dad changing his Trust.
Since then, my brother has pretty much avoided me and is now saying that he is (by law?) not "allowed" to give me back the building even though I'm willing to pay the taxes.
Since I have never been allowed to see the Trust and my brother has not been forthcoming with much info, I don't know if this an excuse.
If it is true, is there a process I can suggest to enable such a transfer with minimal aggravation and costs?

 

[Dandy Don]

Consult with a local trust attorney to find out whether you have the right as a beneficiary of the trust to request a copy of the trust merely by sending the trustee a certified letter asking for a copy of it (in most states, you do have this right).

He may have just been promising you the building to make you happy, without ever intending to follow through on that promise. But anyway, he is being less than forthcoming by not backing up what he says by showing you the trust. Whether or not you get the building depends on what the trust actually says, not his opinion of whether you should get it.

DANDY DON

 

[Zachary]

Thank you for replying as I've always appreciated how you respond to posts and your advice and guidance.

Perhaps my original post was not clear.

My brother told me I am NOT a beneficiary any longer in the Trust and I beleive that to be true. However, he told me(right after Dad's passing) that as Trustee, he was going to see to it that although the bldg. in question was left to him in the Trust, he was going to transfer it back to me.

That is why I'm a little confused as to whether it is true that he is "prohibited" from doing such.

I would think if I'm willing to pay the taxes, there would be some way of arranging this if he is truly sincere in wanting me to have it.

 

[Dandy Don]

Usually when assets are put into the trust, the trust is the legal owner of them. As trustee, if your brother wants to give you title to the building he can arrange to do the transfer of title if he wants to, but somehow I get the feeling that he won't make any effort to do so.

 

[Zachary]

Certainly makes sense to me, and thank you again.