Fiduciary Litigation
A fiduciary, such as a trustee or executor, owns or controls property intended to be used for the benefit of another. If the documents establishing the fiduciary relationship are suspect or when the communications between the beneficiary and the fiduciary become strained, it often leads to litigation. Whether you’re the fiduciary or beneficiary, we can help ensure you’re protected.
How we can help:
- Pursue accountings and other information for beneficiaries in the administration of trusts and estates
- Defend trustee actions in the administration of trusts and estates
- Recover misused or mismanaged funds for beneficiaries
- Ensure trusts are protected from a beneficiary’s creditors
- Obtain instructions or court-approval of trustee and executor actions
- Invalidate documents created as a result of fraud or undue influence
- Resolve disputes involving minority owners, majority owners, or the managers of family-owned businesses
- Other fiduciary litigation involving trusts, estates, guardianships, and powers of attorney
Defending Fiduciaries’ Actions
Whether acting as a trustee, executor, guardian, or power of attorney, fiduciary responsibilities are complicated and often involve balancing competing interests. When conflict arises, we can help avoid liability by obtaining instructions from a court on how a trustee or fiduciary should proceed. When trustees have already acted, we’ll defend them by clearly and succinctly explaining how the trustees’ actions fulfill their duties to the beneficiaries.
Holding Fiduciaries Accountable
As a beneficiary, we’ll fight to ensure the property being managed for you is being used for your best interests. This may mean obtaining accountings, supporting documents, or other information that show the actions of the trustee. Once we obtain the accounting and supporting documents, we have the skills to review them and recommend next steps such as seeking to have the trustee removed and recovering funds that have been misused.
Litigation Involving Third Parties
We represent clients in contests involving documents that have excluded family members, and when trusts include ownership interests in family businesses, we help clients in business disputes involving the family business. Finally, we defend trustees in actions by third-party creditors attempting to obtain trust funds.
Let’s talk about your case
Need to file or appear in a court case but not sure where to start? Schedule a consultation and we can help.
