Right to see Trust?

[Zachary]

What is the name of your state? FL

My brother (Executor) has refused to let my son and I see my fathers Trust after his death (April, 2002), but said my son is a beneficary in my fathers estate. ( I was not included in anything). As a beneficiary, my son was going to request a copy of the Trust to review, however was told he was left part of my fathers Profit Sharing, which was not part of the Trust, and therefore not entitled to see it. Is this correct, and is there any other approach my son can take to see the Trust document?
Thank you.

 

[Dandy Don]

A trust beneficiary does have the right to request a copy of the trust by sending the trustee a certified letter requesting a copy of the trust, and also, if the beneficiary wants, an accounting statement for each year the trust has been in existence (any local trust lawyer can verify this). However, for what reason would your son and you want to see your fathers trust--just out of curiosity to see how much it is worth and what is in it?

Does your son have an idea of how much he is going to receive?

You should try to guess who WOULD have been named as a beneficiary in that trust and get that person to request a copy of it. Or ask the trustee who in the family WAS named as a beneficiary, but don't let the trustee know why you are asking.

It would be better to get an attorney to write the letter requesting the copy of the trust, since the executor or trustee would pay more attention to that request, whereas if the individual beneficiary just made the request on their own, the trustee might ignore it.

If the profit sharing money was not put in the trust then it is a separate part of the estate and he would not be entitled to see the trust. However, it does seem a bit odd that YOU would not have been named as a beneficiary in the trust or in the estate (do you know the reason that you may have been excluded), so if there is any way you can get a copy of the trust it would be interesting to look at, for sure, just to see who WAS named as beneficiary!

DANDY DON (tiekh@yahoo.com)