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Lesson in Speaking Up in Trust Administration

By Gerry W. Beyer

GavelA recent Minnesota case serves a reminder for both trustees and beneficiaries. It can be beneficial for trustees to keep beneficiaries in the loop on trust administration decisions. On the beneficiary side it shows the importance of beneficiaries speaking up and objecting to actions or risking ratifying the action through silence.

In In re Fallgren Family Trust, the Minnesota Court of Appeals in an unpublished opinion held that even though the trustee made an unauthorized sale, the beneficiary had ratified the sale by not objecting when informed of the plan prior to the sale and also failing to object after giving details of the plan to another beneficiary.

See Luke Lantta, Beneficiary Ratification Of A Trustee’s Unauthorized Act, Bryan Cave, March 12, 2015.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing) for bringing this article to my attention.

Posted in:
Estate Administration, Estate Planning - Generally, Non-Probate Assets and Trusts