Protect Your Right To Your Inheritance

At Cushing & Dolan, P.C., we have a wealth of experience in probate litigation. We have been fighting for the rights of disgruntled beneficiaries since 1984. If you have been wronged as a beneficiary, we can help fight for your rights.

From our eight Massachusetts office locations (Boston, Waltham, Westborough and Woburn), we serve individuals, families and businesses throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Florida, Pennsylvania, and New York. If you feel like your rights as a beneficiary have been violated by a trustee’s negligence, error, or intentional breach of fiduciary duties, call 888-759-5109 to talk with one of our Boston beneficiaries’ attorneys about your rights and options.

Causes Of Action

Beneficiaries who feel that the trustees did not act properly can seek remedies that include specific performance or monetary damages, claiming breach of fiduciary duty, or error or failure to make an accounting.

Examples of successful beneficiary challenges include:

• Trustees self-dealt by purchasing trust property at below-market prices for personal benefit, violating their duty of loyalty and causing financial harm to beneficiaries
• Failed to diversify investments, resulting in significant losses when reasonable alternatives existed, such as maintaining all assets in a single declining stock
• Deliberately concealed assets from beneficiaries to avoid proper distribution, including hiding bank accounts or undervaluing property during appraisals
• Maintained inappropriate relationships with one beneficiary while disadvantaging others, creating conflicts of interest that compromised impartial trust administration
• Failed to follow explicit trust terms, such as making required distributions at specific ages or ignoring mandatory educational expense payments
• Failed to maintain property as directed by the trust document, allowing real estate to deteriorate or neglecting required insurance coverage

These scenarios demonstrate the various ways trustees can breach their duties, resulting in successful legal challenges and substantial monetary damages for affected beneficiaries. Having experienced legal guidance can help beneficiaries identify potential breaches and pursue appropriate remedies.

Breach Of Fiduciary Duty

Trustees are held to a fiduciary standard, which is total loyalty to the best interests of the donor and the beneficiaries of the trust. If a trustee fails to meet this duty, the damages that result could be compensable.

When a court finds a trustee has breached their fiduciary duty, several consequences may follow:

• Immediate removal and appointment of a successor trustee to protect trust assets from further mismanagement or abuse by the breaching fiduciary
• Surcharge requiring the breaching trustee to personally compensate the trust for losses caused by their misconduct, often including interest on the amounts owed
• Disgorgement of any profits improperly obtained through self-dealing or misconduct, ensuring trustees cannot benefit from their breach of duty
• Payment of beneficiaries’ attorney fees and court costs incurred in pursuing legal action to correct the trustee’s wrongdoing
• Personal liability for ongoing damages resulting from their breach, which may continue to accrue until the trust is properly restored

These consequences serve to protect beneficiaries and deter future misconduct by holding trustees accountable for their actions.

Error

Sometimes well-meaning trustees do not intentionally breach any standard; they simply make mistakes. Regardless of whether an error is intentional or not, you should not have to miss out on your inheritance as a result.

Failure To Make An Accounting

The law and most trust documents have clear guidelines regarding the duty of a fiduciary to make regular accountings to the principals and to other interested parties. As a beneficiary, you have a right to receive regular accountings of the trustee’s actions regarding the trust document.

When errors or accounting failures are discovered, beneficiaries have several remedies available:

• Courts can compel trustees to provide complete and accurate accountings with detailed documentation of all transactions, investments and distributions since their appointment
• Monetary damages to restore the trust to its proper value when errors resulted in losses, including interest and lost investment opportunities
• More frequent reporting requirements for trustees with persistent accounting failures, such as quarterly instead of annual reports, to prevent future misconduct
• Appointment of independent monitors to oversee trustee activities and review all major decisions before implementation to protect beneficiary interests

Massachusetts law generally provides beneficiaries with a three-year statute of limitations from when they knew or should have known about potential breaches. However, beneficiaries should act promptly upon discovering irregularities, as delays may complicate evidence gathering and potentially limit available remedies.

Schedule Your Consultation At No Cost To You

We want to make sure you get the inheritance that you deserve. Our experienced Boston probate litigation attorneys will sit down with you at a free initial consultation and discuss your probate litigation options. Call 888-759-5109 or contact us online for a free consultation with a lawyer from Cushing & Dolan, P.C.