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[quote=Anonymous]My mom with whom I was estranged, passed earlier this year.   She appointed a cousin (whom I am not close with) to manage her Trust, the total of which will be split for my 2 kids upon turning age 25.  They are currently in MS so it's 10+ years for both to go.

The cousin would like to transfer her obligations to a fiduciary after close of her obligations.  I do not have any insights into the size of this fund, although at min will be the sale of mom's home, just north of $1M.  I know some larger institutional banks require a minimum fund size but so I don't know if we will meet that for a Merrill Lynch, etc. I'd like to spend the next few months interviewing potential 3rd party fiduciary candidates but don't know how/where to start.

My attorney says that while the Trust is written very very poorly and while it's documented I am disinherited from the Trust, there is no documentation otherwise suggesting myself/husband/both of us cannot be Trustees.  Opposing counsel is adamant that mom's intention was to have a 3rd party manage the Trust however.  Counsel was hired by my cousin and I know my cousin knows that my mom and I were estranged, so I don't know if she is influencing this decision, or if counsel just wants to make things difficult (the practice specializes in elder care not trust law) for us.  But, it is pretty clear there is no documentation by way of notes to confirm my mother's intentions.  Still, my understanding is judges tend to decide conservatively in these cases, to prevent liability issues.

We are less concerned with being Trustees and intend Trust to provide for private school (currently enrolled) and college tuition for our kids, so it's more a matter of timeline rather than a need to be Trustees.  I figure we would either need to spend money to litigate on the front end to become Trustees or if we appoint a 3rd party, they of course will charge for services.  Either way, it involves money but easier to let things be.  However, I am curious as to whether anyone has successfully petitioned under this situation as the other side s not being forthcoming and cooperative with us.  The concern is that they will hold off on distribution of Trust and reject our request for private school tuition later next year.  Not sure why they would but it is their right to do so if they desire.  The 12 month anniversary of my mom's passing is May so legally, I believe they have to offer us full accounting of the Trust by this upcoming May, but my attorney said there's no telling how long they can hold on to the distribution of funds.

I have 2 questions:

1. I'm looking for the best way to approach finding a place to park the Trust funds once it's distributed and a 3rd party fiduciary to manage this Trust long-term.  Any suggestions or referrals please?

2. If anyone has experience in petitioning a Trust to become Trustees of beneficiaries (ie like in our case - grandkids who are beneficiaries, parents to Trustee), how did that decision go?

Thank you!![/quote]

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