Question:

The guy who’s trustee of my fathers estate  has billed the estate $257,490. This is from August 2nd 2019, until today. And he has tapped into the IRA still there. So I guess my question is… is there a way to stop him, like immediately? He will not step down until an audit that may or may not happen, happens. Anyway, I know I will probably have to hire a lawyer but is there anything I can do otherwise? Any kind of legal threat?

Response:

I think you’ll have to hire a lawyer and seek the removal of the trustee as soon as possible. Your lawyer can go to court as quickly as possible to seek the removal of the trustee, an accounting of his actions as trustee, and the return of any excessive fees. Just the threat of such action by your lawyer should at least stop any future overcharging. Unfortunately, it could still be expensive since the trustee can use trust funds to hire his own attorney to defend himself.

If the trustee is an attorney, himself, you can threaten to report him to your state’s board of bar overseers. If he’s overcharging, he’s violating the rules of professional ethics for attorneys.

 

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