How to Protect Loved Ones from Being Disinherited

How to Protect Loved Ones from Being Disinherited

Even if you’ve updated your wills, power of attorney, trusts and documented your end-of-life wishes, you haven’t finished with your estate plan, says a recent article, “On the Money: Do not disinherit your loved ones” from the Aiken Standard.

Forgetting to update beneficiary designations for retirement plans at work, IRAs, life insurance policies, mutual funds, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, annuities and 529 college savings plans can wreak havoc, with even the best estate plan.

It’s always a good idea to review these designations every few years and update them to reflect your current life. Each account with a beneficiary designation should also have a contingent or secondary beneficiary who will become the primary beneficiary, in case the primary beneficiary dies or declines to accept the asset.

One common occurrence: one child is placed as a beneficiary on an account, thereby invalidating the parents’ will and effectively disinheriting their siblings.

When you name a beneficiary on an IRA account, designate the specific individual by name, rather than by class, such as “all my living children.” Be careful to use the correct legal name. Families where multiple people share names often lead to problems when distributions are being made.

There are other times to review beneficiary designations:

Divorce or remarriage. If a former spouse was listed as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy, you’ll need to get a beneficiary change form to the issuing insurer. Naming your new spouse in your will won’t work.

You’ve started a new job and have rolled over your old 401(k) to an IRA or your new employer’s 401(k). If you want to keep the same beneficiary designations, name them on the new account.

Your primary beneficiary passed away. If you have a secondary beneficiary, that person is now the primary, but you should make sure ongoing designations are in line with current wishes. You’ll also need to name a new secondary beneficiary.

The financial institution changes ownership. Check with the new company to be sure your beneficiary designations are still what you want them to be.

You have a new child or grandchild. Children can’t inherit until they are of legal age, so check with your estate planning attorney to understand how you can provide for your new child or grandchild. Leaving assets to a minor may require the use of a trust.

A beneficiary becomes disabled. Individuals who have special needs and receive federal support have limits on assets. If a beneficiary becomes disabled, an estate planning attorney can create a Special Needs Trust, naming the trust as a beneficiary and keeping any future assets from being countable and making them ineligible for benefits.

Reference: Aiken Standard (Jan. 7, 2023) “On the Money: Do not disinherit your loved ones”

Should Each Child Get Equal Inheritance?

Should Each Child Get Equal Inheritance?

Every estate planning attorney has conversations with their clients about how adult children should inherit. While most people assume siblings should all inherit equally, in many situations, equal is not always appropriate. There are many situations where an equal inheritance might be unfair, says a recent article, “How Should Your Children Inherit? 4 Scenarios Where ‘Equal’ Is Not Appropriate,” from Kiplinger.

The Caretaker Child Lives With the Parent. When one of the children lives with the parent and has taken on most, if not all, of the responsibilities, it may be fair to treat the child differently than siblings who are not involved with the parent’s care. Taking care of paying bills, coordinating health care appointments, driving the parent to appointments and being involved with end-of-life care is a lot of responsibility. It may be fair to leave this child the family home or leave the home to a trust for the child for their lifetime. The parent may wish to leave the caretaking child a larger portion of the inheritance to recognize the additional help they provided.

A Special Needs Child. If the parent has been the primary caregiver for a special needs child, the estate plan must take this into consideration to ensure the child will be properly cared for after the parents die or are unable to care for the child. Depending on what government benefits the child receives, this usually means the parents need to have a Special Needs Trust or Supplemental Needs Trust created. Most government benefits are means-tested. To remain eligible, recipients may not have more than a certain amount of personal assets. The Special Needs or Supplemental Needs trust could receive more or less than an equal amount of the estate the child would have inherited.

In this scenario, siblings are generally understanding. The siblings often know they will be the ones caring for the family member with special needs when the parents can no longer provide care and welcome the help of an elder law estate planning attorney to plan for their sibling’s future.

An Adult Child With Problems. It’s usually not a good idea to leave an equal portion of an inheritance to an adult child who suffers from mental illness, substance abuse, is going through a divorce or has a life-long history of making bad choices. Putting the money into a trust with a non-family member serving as a trustee and strict directions for when and how much money may be distributed may be a better option. In some cases, disinheriting a child is the unpleasant but only realistic alternative.

Wealth Disparities Among the Siblings. When one child has been financially successful and another struggles, it’s fair to bequeath different amounts. However, wealth can change over a lifetime, so review the estate plan and the wealth distribution on a regular basis.

How To Decide What Will Work For Your Family? Every family is different, and every family has different dynamics. Have open and honest discussions with your estate planning attorney, so they can help you plan for your family’s situation. If possible, the same frank discussion should take place with adult children, so no one is taken by surprise at a time when they will be grieving a loss.

Reference: Kiplinger (Dec. 18, 2022) “How Should Your Children Inherit? 4 Scenarios Where ‘Equal’ Is Not Appropriate”

How Do Special Needs Trusts Work?

How Do Special Needs Trusts Work?

Parents with children who have special needs know they play a pivotal role in their child’s medical, social, emotional and mental health. They also face the challenges of figuring out government assistance programs like Medicaid and how these and other programs provide much-needed help throughout a child’s life. Another important way that parents of children with special needs help is with the creation of a special needs trust, as explained in the article “Special Needs Trust (SNT): What It Is and How It Works” from Forbes.

A special needs trust is used to hold assets in an account to be used to support an individual with special needs. The funds belong to the trust and not the individual, so they are not factored into their eligibility for government benefits.

SNTs are typically set up by a parent, grandparent, or guardian. The person who sets up the account, called the “grantor,” funds the account, as may any other individuals who wish to provide for the child.

The grantor names a trustee, or a third party, who administers the trust. The trustee is a fiduciary and must act in the best interest of the beneficiary. Funds are to be distributed in accordance with the directions in the trust. The trustee will be responsible for distributing funds, following government benefit rules and requirements, and managing tax obligations, among other things.

Parents are often the trustees, although others, like siblings or close relatives, may also be trustees. Parents who are both grantor and trustee generally name a successor trustee to take over after they die, become incapacitated or resign from their role.

A person who may not be able to support themselves due to a medical condition or a disability can gain financial security from an SNT.

Someone with special needs is likely to rely on means-tested government benefits, like Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Medicaid. These benefits are only available to people with limited income or assets. Anyone receiving SSI, for example, may not have more than $2,000 of countable resources.

A parent who wishes to provide support after they die must plan in advance, so their bequest does not result in the person losing their benefits. This could happen if money is left through anything except a special needs trust. An estate planning attorney will know how to structure the parent’s estate plan to protect the individual with special needs and their government benefits.

Assets in an SNT can be used for a wide variety of expenses, including out-of-pocket medical or dental expenses, personal care givers, rehab services, education, vacations, and other permissible uses.

There is a lot of complexity involved with creating a special needs trust. For one, there are several different kinds of SNTs. You’ll want to select the one best suited for your family. Laws about means-tested benefits vary across states, so you’ll need to work with an estate planning attorney familiar with the laws of your state.

A well-drafted estate plan, incorporating a special needs trust, will provide your loved one with the resources to maintain as much normalcy as possible as they adjust to life without their parents.

Reference: Forbes (Sep. 22, 2022) “Special Needs Trust (SNT): What It Is and How It Works”

How Do You Provide Financial Help for a Special Needs Child and Retirement Too?
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How Do You Provide Financial Help for a Special Needs Child and Retirement Too?

For parents of children with disabilities, the challenges of preparing for retirement and for their child’s future are far higher than for families with healthy, high-functioning adults. Planning for your own retirement, while needing to secure the stability and basic needs of a child who will be a dependent forever often feels impossible, according to the recent article “Planning for Your Retirement, and for a Child’s Special Needs, All at Once” from The New York Times.

Even under the best of circumstances, where there’s plenty of money available and many hands to help, caring for an adult child with special needs is emotionally and physically challenging. As parents age, they have to address their own needs plus the needs of their adult dependent. Who will care for them, provide safe and comfortable housing and care for them when their parents no longer can?

Understanding the entire picture can be difficult, even for parents with the best of intentions. First, they need to understand how their retirement planning must be different than other families. Their investments need to be multi-generational to last not just for their lifetimes, but for their child’s lifetime. They can’t be too conservative because they need long-term growth.

In addition, special needs parents need to keep a certain amount of funds liquid and easily accessible, for times when their child needs a new piece of expensive equipment immediately.

One of the parents will often leave the workforce to provide care or take a lower paying position to be more available for care. This creates a double hit; the household budget is reduced at the same time its strained by costs not covered by benefits or insurance. Paying for gas to drive to therapy appointments and day program, buying supplies not covered by insurance, like adult diapers, waterproof bedding, compression garments to promote circulation, specialized diets, etc. adds up quickly.

Even with public health assistance, finding affordable housing is not easy. One adult may need supervised care in a group home, while others may need in-home care. However, the family home may need to be modified to accommodate their physical disabilities. With wait times lasting several years, many families feel they have no choice but to keep their family member at home.

Another challenge: if the parents wanted to downsize to a smaller house or move to a state where housing costs are lower, they may not be able to do so. Most of the public benefits available to special needs people are administered through Medicaid at the state level. Moving to a state with a lower cost of housing may also mean losing access to the disabled individuals’ benefits or being placed at the end of the waiting list for services in a new state.

For disabled individuals, maintaining eligibility is a key issue. Family members who name a disabled individual as a beneficiary don’t understand how they are jeopardizing their ability to access public benefits. Any money intended for a disabled person must be held in a specialized financial instrument, such as a special needs trust.

The money in a special needs trust (SNT) may be used for quality-of-life enhancements like a cellphone, computer, better food, care providers, rent and utilities among other qualified expenses.

There are two main categories of SNTs: first party trusts, created with assets belonging to the individual. Any money in this trust must go to reimburse the state for the cost of their care. Another is a third-party special needs trust, established and funded by someone else for the benefit of the disabled individual. These are typically funded by parent’s life insurance proceeds and second-to-die life insurance policies. Both parents are covered under it, and the policy pays out after the second spouse dies, providing a more affordable option than insuring both parents separately.

Reference: The New York Times (Aug. 27, 2022) “Planning for Your Retirement, and for a Child’s Special Needs, All at Once”

Read more about the article Should I Use a Special Needs Trust?

Should I Use a Special Needs Trust?

A special needs trust is a legal arrangement and fiduciary relationship that lets a physically or mentally disabled or chronically ill person get income without reducing their eligibility for the public assistance disability benefits provided by Social Security, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or Medicaid.

Investopedia’s recent article entitled “What Is a Special Needs Trust?” says that a grantor creates a trust, and a trustee oversees the disbursement of assets from the trust. The beneficiary is a person for whose benefit the trust is created. The trust will supplement the beneficiary’s government benefits but won’t replace them.

This trust helps cover a disabled individual’s financial needs that aren’t covered by public assistance payments. The assets held in the trust don’t count toward public assistance eligibility.

The proceeds from this type of trust are typically used for medical expenses, caretaker expenses and transportation costs. The person who creates the trust (the grantor) names a trustee who will have control over the trust. The trustee will also oversee its management and the disbursement of funds.

The trust is funded with assets belonging to a person other than the beneficiary, and funds belonging to the beneficiary can’t be used to fund the trust. Funding may come from gifts, an inheritance and proceeds of life insurance policies.

Assets originally belonging to the disabled individual placed into the trust may be subject to Medicaid’s repayment rules, but assets provided by third parties such as parents aren’t.

Special needs trusts are irrevocable and can’t be tapped by creditors via a lawsuit.

A special needs trust can have benefits for both parties. The beneficiary gets financial support without putting their eligibility for income-restricted programs or services in jeopardy.

The person or party that contributes to the trust is assured that the proceeds will go to expenses they stipulate.

The grantor or their legal representative must define the terms of the trust documents very carefully to ensure their validity and to confirm that the directives and purpose of the document are explicitly clear.

If you want to explore creating a special needs or supplemental benefits trust, speak with an experienced elder law attorney.

Reference: Investopedia (July 12, 2022) “What Is a Special Needs Trust?”

Why Do I Need a Will?

Why Do I Need a Will?

Perhaps getting hit by a cement truck is too blunt for some, but unexpected things happen all the time. An estate plan, including a will and other important documents, is good preparation, especially for caregivers of people with special needs. A recent article from Forbes titled “Where There is a Will, There is a Way” explains the steps everyone, especially caregivers, need to follow.

Creating a last will and testament

This is the foundation of an estate plan. Without a will, the court will distribute assets to children equally. If a disabled person receiving government benefits receives an inheritance, they will become ineligible and lose access to services. The court will also assign guardianship to minors or disabled individuals, if there is no will. A will, in tandem with proper estate planning, ensures protection for an individual with special needs, including naming a guardian of your choice.

Having a General Durable Power of Attorney for Finances

A POA allows you to name a person you trust to manage finances, real estate property, investments, or any aspect of your life, if you become incapacitated. A POA should be created for your needs, so you may decide in advance what you do and do not want your agent to be able to do for you.

Creating a Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare

This important legal document, paired with a HIPAA release form, allows someone of your choice to take charge of your healthcare, talk with healthcare providers and make decisions based on your expressed wishes. You may name more than one person for this role but doing so could make it harder if the two people don’t agree on your care.

Naming a Guardian

This is a critical step if you are a caretaker for a person who will likely be unable to manage their own affairs, even after attaining legal age. By naming a guardian in your will, you can select the people who will be in charge of your special needs family member or minor children. Without a guardian named in your will, the courts will make this decision.

Drafting a “Letter of Intent”

A letter of intent is a guide with important information only you know. It is especially important for caretakers. Explaining in detail your disabled individual’s preferences can make a huge difference in the quality of their lives when you are no longer available. What are their likes and likes, what people do they enjoy spending time with and what foods do they prefer, etc. If your children are minors, this letter is an opportunity to describe your preferences for how they should be raised, including religious preferences, vocational choices and even nighttime rituals.

Providing Financial Security

If your family includes a loved one with Special Needs, you can protect their ability to have funds for things not covered by government benefits through a Special Needs Trust. Your estate planning attorney will create an SNT with a trustee and a secondary trustee to oversee the funds and ensure that they are used for qualified expenses.

Reference: Forbes (July 6, 2022) “Where There is a Will, There is a Way,”

How Do Special Needs Trusts Work?

How Do Special Needs Trusts Work?

Parents with disabled children worry about how their offspring will manage when parents are no longer able to care for them. Leaving money directly to a child receiving means-tested government benefits, like Social Security Supplemental Income or Medicaid, could make them ineligible for these programs, explains an article from Kiplinger titled “Estate Planning: A Special Trust for a Special Need.” In most states, beneficiaries of either program are only allowed to have a few thousand dollars in assets, with the specific amount varying by state. However, the financial support from government programs only goes so far. Many families opt to have their own family member with special needs live at home, since the benefit amount is rarely enough.

The solution is a Special Needs Trust, which provides financial support for a disabled individual. The SNT owns the assets, not the individual. Therefore, the assets are excluded from asset limit tests. The funds in the trust can be used to enhance quality of life, such as a cell phone, a vacation or a private room in a group living facility. The SNT is a means of making sure that a vulnerable family member receives the money and other relatives, such as a sibling, don’t have a financial burden.

SNTs can only be created for those who are younger than age 65 and are meant for individuals with a mental or physical disability so severe they cannot work and require ongoing support from government agencies. A disabled person who can and does work isn’t eligible to receive government support and isn’t eligible for an SNT, although an estate planning attorney will be able to create a trust for this scenario also.

Each state has its own guidelines for SNTs, with some requiring a verification from a medical professional. There are challenges along the way. A child with autism may grow up to be an adult who can work and hold a job, for instance. However, estate planning attorneys recommend setting up the SNT just in case. If your family member qualifies, it will be there for their benefit. If they do not, it will operate as an ordinary trust and give the person the income according to your instructions.

SNTs require a trustee and successor trustee to be responsible for managing the trust and distributing assets. The beneficiary may not have the ability to direct distributions from the trust. The language of the trust must state explicitly the trustee has sole discretion in making distributions.

Because every state has its own system for administering disability benefits, the estate planning attorney will tailor the trust to meet the state’s requirements. The SNT also must be reported to the state. If the beneficiary moves to another state, the SNT may be subjected to two different sets of laws and the trustee will need to confirm the trust meets both state’s requirements.

SNTs operate as pass-through entities. Tax treatment favors ongoing distributions to beneficiaries. Any earned investment income goes to the beneficiary in the same year, with distributions taxed at the beneficiaries’ income tax rate. Trust assets may be used to pay for the tax bill.

As long as all annual income from the trust is distributed in a given year, the trust will not owe any tax. However, a return must be filed to report income. For any undistributed annual investment income, the trust is taxed at one of four levels of tax rates. These range from 10% and can go as high as 37%, depending on the trust income.

An SNT can be named as the beneficiary of a traditional IRA on the death of the parent. Investments grow tax deferred, as long as they remain in the retirement account and the SNT collects the required minimum distributions for the retirement account each year, with the money passing as income. However, any undistributed amount of the required distribution will be taxed at the trust’s highest tax rate.

Reference: Kiplinger (June 8, 2022) “Estate Planning: A Special Trust for a Special Need”

How Does a Trust Fund Work?

How Does a Trust Fund Work?

To maximize the benefits of a trust fund, you’ll need to understand how trusts funds work and how to create a trust fund the right way, advises this recent article from Yahoo! Money titled “How to Start a Trust Fund the Easy Way.” You don’t have to be a millionaire to start a trust fund, by the way. “Regular” people benefit just as much as millionaires from using trusts to protect assets and minimize taxes.

A trust fund is an independent legal entity created to own assets and ensure money and property are used to benefit loved ones. They are commonly used to transfer assets to family members.

Trust funds are created by grantors, the person who sets up the trust and transfers money or assets into it. An experienced estate planning attorney will be essential, since creating a trust is not like going to the bank and opening an account. You need the assistance of a professional who can create a trust to reflect your wishes and comply with your state’s laws.

When assets are moved into a trust, the trust becomes the legal owner of the property. Part of creating the trust is naming a trustee, who manages the trust and is legally bound to follow the wishes of the trust following the grantor’s wishes. A successor trustee should always be named, in case the primary trustee becomes unwilling to serve or dies.

Subject to compliance with specific requirements, assets owned by an irrevocable trust are not countable towards Medicaid, if someone in the family needs long-term care and is concerned about qualifying. Any transfer must be done at least five years in advance of applying for Medicaid. An elder law attorney can help in preparation for this application and to ensure eligibility. This is a very complex area of law. Do not attempt it alone without the assistance of an elder law attorney.

Trusts can have a long or short life. Some trusts are held for a child until the child reaches age 25, while others are structured to distribute a portion of the assets throughout the beneficiary’s lifetime or when the beneficiary reaches certain milestones, such as finishing college, starting a family, etc.

A revocable trust allows the grantor to have the most control over the assets in the trust, but at a cost. The revocable trust may be changed at any time, and property can be moved in and out of it. However, the assets are available to creditors and are countable towards long-term care because they are in the control of the grantor.

The irrevocable trust requires the grantor to give up control, in exchange for the benefits the trust provides.

There are as many types of trusts as there are situations for trusts. Charitable Remainder Trusts reduce estate taxes and allow beneficiaries to receive an income stream for a designated period of time, at the end of which the remainder of the trust’s assets go to the charity. Special Needs Trusts are created for disabled persons who are receiving means-tested government benefits. There are strict rules about SNTs, so speak with an experienced estate planning attorney to ensure that your loved one continues to be eligible, if you want them to receive assets from you.

Trusts are often used so assets will pass through the trust and not through the probate process. Assets owned by a trust pass directly to beneficiaries and information about the assets does not become part of the public record, which is part of what occurs during the probate process.

Your estate planning attorney will help ensure your trusts are appropriate for your situation, achieve your specific wishes and are in compliance with your state’s laws. A boilerplate template could present more problems than it solves. For trusts, the experienced professional is the best option.

Reference: Yahoo! Money (March 18, 2022) “How to Start a Trust Fund the Easy Way”

Should Young Adults have a Will?

Should Young Adults have a Will?

Young adults are starting to get their affairs in order, contacting estate planning attorneys because they are concerned about dying unexpectedly. A study by Caring.com, a senior referral service, said that almost a third of young adults, ages 18—34, had a will in 2021, compared to 18% in 2019. The leap, according to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal titled “Millennials, Feeling Their Mortality During Covid-19, Start Writing Their Wills” can be directly attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The concern over continued uncertainty regarding whether the young adults themselves or their family members will become sick, and die is all too real. Millennials also haven’t experienced another event: sharply rising inflation. The general sense of unease and instability is leading young adults to make sure they have wills and healthcare proxies in place to give some sense of control in the face of an unstable world. Those with young families are especially concerned, as new variants of Covid emerge.

Before the pandemic, young adults, even with those with children, didn’t feel the need to have an estate plan created. That’s changed.

Just under half of all Americans have a will, and people 65 and up have traditionally been more likely to have one, according to a May 2021 study by Gallup. This number has been relatively stable since about 1990.

If you die without a will, the state law determines how to distribute assets, under court supervision. The process is slower and far more costly for survivors. In many situations, not having a will can be catastrophic. If beneficiaries with special needs inherit funds outright, and not in a Supplemental Needs Trust (or a Special Needs Trust), they could lose government benefits necessary for their day-to-day lives.

Wills are also used to name a guardian to care for minor children. If both parents die and there is no will, a court will decide who should raise a child. The court may not necessarily name a family member, and the person may not be who the parents or grandparents might have wished.

Similarly, news about young celebrities dying unexpectedly also pushes the “go” button for millennials to get their wills completed. When Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs died of a fentanyl overdose in 2019, calls to estate planning attorneys from millennial males increased in many law offices. At the same time, millennials who are aware of the importance of a will for themselves and their families are pressing their parents to get their wills prepared or updated.

In every case, having a will is far less costly than not having a will. The cost of preparing a will depends on many factors: the size of the estate, the complexity of the family situation, the nature of assets and where the will is being prepared. Other documents are necessary. For example, every adult should have a power of attorney, health care proxy, living will and possibly a trust.

The last gift you leave your heirs is a plan and organized documents, so they can grieve properly after you pass, rather than having to embark on a scavenger hunt through decades of paperwork and old files.

Reference: The Wall Street Journal (Dec. 6, 2021) “Millennials, Feeling Their Mortality During Covid-19, Start Writing Their Wills”

Does a Trust Protect You From a Lawsuit?
A gavel and a name plate with the engraving Lawsuit

Does a Trust Protect You From a Lawsuit?

If you have a trust, plan to create one or are the beneficiary of one, you’ll want to understand whether or not a trust can be sued. It’s not a simple yes/no, according to a recent article titled “Estate Planning: Can You Sue a Trust?” from Yahoo! Finance. For instance, a trust generally cannot be sued, but a trustee can.

Understanding when a lawsuit can be brought against a trust should be considered when creating an estate plan, a good reason to work with an experienced estate planning attorney.

A trust is a legal entity used to hold and manage assets on behalf of one or more beneficiaries. A trustee can be a person or business entity responsible for managing the trust and the assets it holds. Trusts can be revocable, meaning the person who created them (the grantor) can make changes, or irrevocable, meaning transfer of assets is permanent (for the most part).

Trusts are used to manage assets while the grantor is living and after they have died. There are many different types of trusts, from a Special Needs Trust (SNT) used to manage assets for a disabled person, or a CRT (Charitable Remainder Trust) used for charitable giving.

A trust cannot always protect the grantor or beneficiaries from litigation. If a person has debt and creditors want to be paid, they can sue a revocable trust, as you have not given up much in the way of control using this type of trust—you still directly own the assets in the trust!

Irrevocable trusts provide more protection. Once assets are in the trust, the grantor has given up control of the assets. However, if the trust was created mainly to protect assets from creditors, a court could determine the trust was created fraudulently, and rule against the grantor, leaving all of the assets in the trust vulnerable to creditor lawsuits.

Can you sue a trust directly? Generally, no, but you can sue the trustee of a trust. You can also sue beneficiaries of a trust.

Here’s an example. If you transfer a car into a revocable living trust and cause an accident leading to the death or serious injury of another driver, the driver or their family could sue the trust for damages indirectly, by suing you as the trustee.

Trustees are bound as fiduciaries to manage the trust assets as directed by the grantor and for the best interest of the beneficiaries. The trustee can be sued if someone, typically a beneficiary, believes the trustee is not carrying out their duties. A beneficiary might sue a trustee, if they were supposed to receive a certain amount of money at a specific time, but the trustee has not distributed the funds. This is known as a “breach of fiduciary duty.”

Trustees are also prevented from self-dealing or using trust assets for their own benefit. If a beneficiary believes a trustee is taking money from the trust for their own benefit, they can sue the trustee.

A trust can also be “contested,” which is different from suing. Contesting a trust occurs when someone believes the grantor was coerced or subjected to undue influence in creating the trust. It also happens if someone believes the trust or amendments to the trust were the result of elder financial abuse, or if it appears trust documents have been forged or fraudulently altered.

Before a trust can be contested, there needs to be a valid suspicion the trust is somehow in violation of your state’s estate planning laws. You also have to have legal standing to bring a claim. The court may or may not side with you, so there are no guarantees.

Reference: Yahoo! Finance (Nov. 17, 2021) “Estate Planning: Can You Sue a Trust?”