Are you legally bound to a trust settlement offer once made?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Are you legally bound to a trust settlement offer once made?
I am the successor Trustee of my father’s estate. Recently my lawyer submitted a settlement offer to the other side’s lawyer, but the offer he/she made is no where near what we had discussed. Am I legally committed to that settlement agreement? The offer was made by my lawyer in the form of a letter she sent to the other side’s attorney, which he/she did not give me an opportunity to review. I thought the terms he/she and I discussed were merely parameters which he/she would use to negotiate, but the settlement offer he/she ultimately made without me goes way beyond what I intended.
Asked on September 6, 2010 under Estate Planning, California
Answers:
M.T.G., Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 14 years ago | Contributor
You are in a pickle but it is one that your attorney needs to fix. Ultimately you have the right to reject or accept settlement offers and your attorney miscommunicated the offer. So now, they have to fix it. They have to send out another letter indicating that the offer that was previously forwarded was done so in error and without client approval. And they need to do it fast. However the attorney wants to put it so that it is one them and not you - clerical error on the part of the office as the letter was to be sent in draft to you for approval and inadvertently went to them - you do not care. It just needs to be done. You need to send your attorney an e-mail or letter in writing indicating that this offer was not approved by you and that it send to be rectified immediately Good luck.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.