Protecting Your Inheritance Rights
A trustee’s primary responsibility is to protect any beneficiaries involved. However, most trustees and beneficiaries aren’t aware of their responsibilities or rights when disseminating property. In more malicious cases, large amounts of money can lead to greedy behavior, causing trustees to act unjustly. This is where our experienced trust beneficiary rights attorneys come in.
As a general rule of thumb: in a trustee-beneficiary relationship, the benefits go to the beneficiary while burdens are placed on the trustee. If these rights are infringed on, it could be time for a free consultation from any one of our trust beneficiary rights attorneys at Gokal Law Group. In short, we’ll ensure your inheritance rights are protected.
How We Help Beneficiaries Enforce Their Inheritance Rights
Gokal Law Group can help you protect your inheritance from mismanagement, abuse, fraud, and more.
Strategy
We’ll carefully evaluate your situation, including whether you have the legal grounds and standing, to develop the strongest and most strategic approach for enforcing your inheritance rights as a beneficiary. Our team will review the trust or estate documents and assess how the trustee, executor, or administrator is managing the assets and if they are fulfilling their fiduciary duties.
Discovery
We’ll conduct a thorough investigation to uncover any breaches of fiduciary duty or mismanagement by the trustee or any instances of fraud or undue influence by anyone else who might have manipulated the decedent for a larger portion of their estate. This may include reviewing financial records, trust accounting, and correspondence to verify the proper administration of your inheritance.
Mediation & Settlement
If mediation is a viable option, we will ensure your voice is heard and that any settlement protects your full inheritance rights as a beneficiary. We advocate aggressively and relentlessly so that no decisions are made without your informed consent and every decision aligns with your rights.
Trial
If litigation is necessary, we will take your case to court, using the evidence gathered to hold trustees, executors, or other bad actors accountable to enforce your rights, recover lost assets, and potentially recover damages. Our team will leverage a comprehensive legal strategy focused on protecting your interests with a compelling narrative proving your case.
Understanding Fiduciary Duties and Your Rights as a Beneficiary
Trustees Are Responsible for:
- Duty to administer the trust according to its terms
- Duty to account to the beneficiaries
- Duty to furnish information to beneficiaries
- Duty of confidentiality
- Duty of loyalty
- Duty to invest and make trust property productive
The attorneys at Gokal Law Group are highly specialized in trust and probate law, with years of experience in helping families move onto their next chapter. By protecting the inheritance rights of our loyal clients, we give them the time and space to grieve for their loss before moving on. Since trust disputes tend to arise at unfortunate and sensitive times, we ensure that these cases are handled with a sense of delicacy and care.
Expert Resolution of Estate Business Conflicts
Another type of estate related business disputes involves creditor claims or disputes over money owed by the decedent resulting from the decedent’s business transactions.
This can be tricky because the decedent is no longer able to tell his or her side of the story. This requires conducting a forensic analysis of past business records to understand the truth of the matter.
Navigating Diverse Business Litigation & Disputes
Other types of business disputes that Gokal Law Group handles include:
- Business Torts - financial loss because of another business’ misconduct
- Employment Disputes
- Contract Disputes
- Disputes related to a Purchasing Assets
- Partnership Disputes
- Real Estate Disputes
If you’re struggling with a business dispute due to the death of a decedent, don’t hesitate to call our offices for an immediate consultation.
What Our Clients Are Saying
Frequently Asked Questions
What is trust litigation for nonprofits?
Nonprofit trust litigation refers to situations in which a nonprofit organization has been made the beneficiary of an estate and is due to receive a bequeathment or endowment; however, there are other parties who dispute the trust and spur legal proceedings. In some cases, these disputes are solved in mediation between the beneficiaries, but sometimes they go before a court.
What is our risk if we don’t hire lawyers?
If you don’t work with a lawyer who specializes in nonprofit trust litigation, you may risk losing some or all of the bequeathment that’s been left for you. Furthermore, trust administration may be a complicated process, especially when estate disputes erupt, and without experienced legal representatives you may be at a serious disadvantage in court proceedings.
How can we justify the expense of litigation? We’re not a billion-dollar nonprofit.
Gokal Law Group offers a free consultation with one of our attorneys to determine if nonprofit trust litigation makes sense for you. After reviewing your case and discussing your financial circumstances, we will advise you on next steps to achieve the best possible outcome for your situation.
At what point should we get a legal team involved in the process?
You should hire legal counsel as soon as you’ve been informed that your non-profit will be a beneficiary of a trust or will. nonprofit trust attorneys will make sure that your organization is represented in all crucial proceedings and that the estate is being fairly administered.
Learn More About Beneficiary Rights
What Damages Are Recoverable for Breach of Fiduciary Duty Penalties?
When a trustee breaches their fiduciary duty, it can feel like a deep personal betrayal – especially when the trust was created to protect your future. Many beneficiaries believe they have little power to fight back, but the truth is,
What Happens if a Trustee Steals from a Trust in California?
Trustees hold a position of extraordinary responsibility — and with that comes access to the trust’s bank accounts, real estate, investments, and personal property. While the law imposes strict duties to safeguard these assets, some trustees abuse their authority. Trustee