A trust eventually needs a trustee to manage it, and that position is both important and filled with responsibility. Unfortunately, not every trustee lives up to the challenge.
Know that you can petition a judge to remove your trustee no matter what type of trust you have. There are some common situations in which trustors or their beneficiaries request removals of trustees. Here are two such situations:
Failure to comply with a trust’s instructions
Your trustee must stand their ground and adhere to your instructions. Trustees must follow these instructions, even if they receive a lot of pushback for doing so or the instructions are contradictory to what they’d do if it were their trust.
Depending on the type of trust, you, or your beneficiaries, can request your trustee’s removal if your trustee fails to uphold these obligations.
Mismanagement of funds
Another common reason trustors or their beneficiaries petition the court to remove their trustee is due to trust mismanagement. Trustees must act in the best interest of beneficiaries. It equates to a breach of fiduciary duty if they cause the trust to lose value or do something that results in waste, which equates to a breach of their fiduciary duties.
Determining whether you need to remove a trustee
It can be very taxing if you feel like a trustee appears to be acting in their self-interests or isn’t being as investment savvy as you might expect them to be. You must present a solid case in court to remove a trustee if a judge is going to grant your request. An attorney will want to know more about your situation before advising you of the likelihood of a judge approving your removal request.