Mrs. DeSantis was the income beneficiary of an A/B Trust with three cotrustees.  Initially, the trust provided that all trustees had to agree but that wasn’t working.  The court was asked to allow majority vote to rule and it did so.  However, when one of the majority cotrustees died suddenly, the court required a private professional to succeed.

Just after marshaling the assets it was settled amongst the beneficiaries to terminate the trust and end familial relationships.  Our task was to work with several siblings and relatives to obtain approval from local courts to sever the trust and distribute assets.  We also had to petition for approval to divide assets much like you would see in a divorce – surcharging one account for property in lieu of cash and making distributions to the other heirs based upon that value.

Mrs. Esposito lived in her own home, where her adult child was serving as her trustee and also living in the home.  During her lifetime she and her now deceased husband acquired and sold several rental properties but kept three single-family homes beyond her own residence as income and future inheritances.  However, the adult child trustee purchased two multi-unit properties at the height of the housing bubble, along with a high-end luxury sports vehicle a few years before, and receiving an exorbitant monthly income that exceeded the rents coming in.  In credit to a mandated reported, this case was channeled through the public guardian’s office and a sibling found us to serve as successor.

The court investigator was concerned about the second hand smoke dangers to Mrs. Esposito and having the adult child removed for her safety.  Having marshaled the vehicle into secured storage, the adult child accepted an offer to travel away and did not return.  Our job included managing several income properties and bringing them up to code, as the former trustee purchased the units as/is and the ones in the trust were never maintained.

Our involvement produced 100% rental occupancy with rents higher than when we were appointed.  Mrs. Esposito lived another two years and was quite happy with her improved surroundings and was allowed to live in her home until she passed.

Mr. Leone was the remaining beneficiary to a trust his father created, which provided for a certain amount of funds to be expended for his son’s care needs. Though typically a trust will terminate where it doesn’t transfer funds to a person’s own trust, or what should have been a special needs trust, the grantor understood his son’s recidivism prevalence and chose to leave the controls with a relative as trustee. After several years of frustration with Mr. Leone, the family member sought us out to serve as successor trustee.

We were instrumental in prolonging the funds in this small trust account and resist demands from him and his significant other interested in fancy cars over shelter. We were able to help him structure his budget and to know what to expect as the months continued. We also stepped up and negotiated with his landlord to block an eviction due to a misunderstanding and secure housing until he could find more suitable accommodations.