How to get at the assets of a Trust?
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How to get at the assets of a Trust?
My husband currently has a mutual fund with his cousin on the account as JTWROS. The account was set up when my husband was 16 or 17 as a result of his grandfather’s death. His grandfather’s Will states that the children of his deceased son (my husband and his brother) be provided for and the rest of the assets were divided between his surviving children (my husband’s aunts and uncles). As a minor my husband was told to sign the JTWROS without an understanding of what that was. Since then, the joint trustee and financial institution have been changed without his approval multiple times in an attempt to keep the assets from him. Does my husband have any case for part or all of these funds? His brother’s funds have been released to him.
Asked on February 2, 2013 under Estate Planning, Illinois
Answers:
Victor Waid / Law Office of Victor Waid
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
You need to obtain probate litigation counsel to sue on your husband's behalf, by filing a petition in to probate court, in the county of his grandfather's death, to compel trustee and financial institution, provide an accounting of the assets, income, and expenses of the estate, from the beginning to now, and provide a determination of total assets due your husband, distribution and stream of the assets due your husband, and possibly punitive damages for obtaining his signature when he was a minor, and for failing to advise him to have independent counsel to advise him at the time of signing the JTWROS.
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