My parent’s lawyer talked them into making the co-trustees and executors of their trust - myself, the lawyer and my sister who I have no communication with. They have now both passed. The lawyer is incredibly difficult to contact, and I haven’t yet been able to other than being told by email that a retainer is needed (this is fine with me). How do I move this forward? Do I need an additional lawyer to represent me? What timeline is to be expected settling a relatively simple trust -several bank accounts and a house.
Email the lawyer to ask for a one hour consultation- for which you will happily pay in advance- to find out what is needed and how to go about retaining your own lawyer and have this law firm replaced as trustee/executor.
That ought to get a response pretty quickly.
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Just to be clear, the three of you ( lawyer and you and your sister) are co-Trustees? If so, any action will require all 3 signatures. (So the sister will be involved.)
Before contacting a different attorney, ask the current attorney for a compete copy of the Trust and will and all amendments and attachments. See what distributions to which heirs. Look to see if the Trustees can be replaced, and how? For example, could you and your sister could vote the current attorney out, as the attorney is looking to rack up some fees as a % of the estate? (but then, you’d have to speak with her.)
Selling a house could take months. Converting bank accounts is easy, if you can all 3 agree and sign. Trustee also has to pay outstanding bills.
Google your [state] and Trustee fees to see what the law firm can claim as Trustee.
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Disagree. If the attorney is a named Trustee, they are already on teh clock. (It sounds like the 'rents knew the sibs were estranged so they put the Law Firm in the middle.)
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Yes my sister, the attorney and myself are co-trustees. I have a complete copy of the trust, will and all amendments. Everything is 50/50 with the exception of a few small gifts. I’ve been paying bills and upkeep on the house - keeping track of my time and expenses. Concerned because the attorney has been excessively slow communicating. I don’t know if this is normal.
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what state? Is the house in the same state?
If the attorney is asking for a retainer from you, are they asking teh same from your sister? Moreover, will the attorney resign as Trustee if you don’t give them a deposit?
In answer to your question, slow communications is not normal; I would fire an attorney who is slow to respond to simple questions. You and yoru sister are paying for professional service (thru Trustee fees), and the slowness is telling. I would ask point blank if this is not a project that they wish to continue with. Perhaps too small, or they are too busy? (or perhaps they don’t want to deal with estranged sibs.)
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That’s unfortunate, as everything will have to be signed by all 3 of you. It will be slooooow
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No just asked me for retainer. The trust says we can pay for whatever help we need, but I’d like to limit attorney fees as much as possible. They have been forwarding my sister’s emails to me and ignoring her. She definitely comes across as mentally unbalanced.
I thought that since attorney was named in trust and it was his idea, he would be handling things and then taking his fee from the trust account
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generally, that’s how it works. Ask him about his fee structure: hourly, flat fee or schedule. Ask him if your state has any limits or a schedule of Trustee fees. Remember, he works for you and your sister.
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What state are you in??
And are you in the same state as where this will be processed?
I’d start by getting that one hour “what do we do next?” appointment with the lawyer. I recently was an executor of an estate for which the lawyer who had drafted documents had passed away. It was a small firm and we amicably agreed to transfer the work to another firm that had more bandwidth as they were overwhelmed trying to absorb their deceased partner’s work. In a perfect world, that doesn’t happen, but the world isn’t perfect!
Yes, the lawyer should be responsive, but there may be a good reason why they are not.
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Thanks to everyone who responded 
I was finally able to contact their lawyer. He had actually tried to talk my parents out of the 3 executor solution. He is aware of how difficult my sister is. Hopefully this will now move forward.
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I hope all has worked out on the complicated situation. Based on the experience, do you have advise for those considering trusts? (If this question comes to close on the heels of your grief and paperwork burdens, feel free to ignore.)
This is still being worked out, incredibly slow. I guarantee my parents did not mean for it to end up the way it has. My advice regarding trusts, wills etc. would be to have only one neutral party be the executor. What we have done personally is a transfer on death for our house. Our bank/brokerage accounts have beneficiaries, we do not have a trust. We have told our kids that none of our stuff matters, we are leaving them the care of each other.
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Thanks - sounds like good advise. Sorry your work is dragging out.
Our financial planner group offers free service for writing Trusts (and wills and “capacity docs” - POA, healthcare proxy). After much discussion, we decided it is overkill for our simple situation. We did make sure our assets were set up with spouse co-owner (or beneficiary). Then kids are 50/50 beneficiaries (or alternate beneficiary).
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can you explain how to set up transfer on death for property? is this specifically written into a deed at the time of purchase or would it be much later? i guess my assumption was that ownership passed upon death to the estate anyway.
If your state allows TOD, you can fill out and record one any time after your house purchase. Googling “TOD and your county/state” will bring up a bunch of useful links. There are pluses and minuses to the TOD, so it pays off to read up on it.
Which states have TOD? - GOOGLE ref
Currently, TOD deeds (or similar alternatives) are offered in 27 states and the District of Columbia: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, …5 days ago
I am not sure though if the TOD deed could be set up with multiple names.
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