Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Obtain your self probate litigation counsel to assist you in filing a petition for an accounting by the trustee, to account for all of the assets, income and expenses of the trust. When you have the information in the form of facts of a trustee response to your pettion, then you can determine if the trustee breached his fiduciary duty from the facts, and make a determination as to whether you want to have the trustee removed from the trust, and whether to report the trustee to the disctrict attorney for a criminal action for embezzlement. What I have suggested should be handled by the probate counsel; if there are suffient funds in the trust, the trust can be reimbursed for the attorney fees, from the trust. You will need to advance fees to the attorney to commence the action.

If you are asking this kind of question, you need to spend a large number of hours educating yourself about the petition process. You might be able to find something by Nolo Press on the subject, but I doubt it will be enough to get you through the case.

Among other things, the petition must be drafted by hand - there is no form. It must be verified, i.e., signed under oath. The probate court will review it carefully to make sure every step has been followed, and opposing counsel likely will not hesitate to throw every roadblock possible in your way. In addition, the trust is paying the attorney for his or her fees -- meaning it comes indirectly out of your inheritance.

A good estates attorney will save you money in the long run. He or she will help you identify your strongest arguments, and his or her word will carry more weight with the trustee than yours does. Do yourself a favor and make that investment in a lawyer if you decide to pursue this.