Knowing how to handle a trust dispute is becoming increasingly relevant to inheritance affairs. It provides a unique way to minimise estate taxes, for one thing. Also, trusts are becoming a more popular solution instead of wills for when you wish to leave money to a family member after death.
The thing is that while a trust benefits someone else, it must be in waiting until this beneficiary comes of age. Alternatively, until they reach a certain set of requirements that allows the assets to go into their care. While this kind of arrangement can benefit some people, not always. In short, it also paves the way for disputes over who the assets should really belong to.
To handle a trust dispute, while messy, it requires paramount sensitivity. Here’s how to do it.
Establishing your claim
Before you go about making a trust dispute, it’s best to establish why your claim would be viable. Many people dispute trusts because:
- assets aren’t split fairly between trustee members;
- someone wishes to remove a trustee from the trust, or;
- there have been significant issues with the handling of the trust.
These claims may present reasonable ground to work from – if you have proof. With evidence, it always makes more sense than what the conditions of the trust initially lay out. For example, if someone unknown to a family is in receipt of an entire trust over the testator’s close-knit children.
Bear in mind that if you’re a vulnerable beneficiary, you may struggle to make a claim without the appropriate support. That holds whether you are not yet 18 or live with a disability. This is, of course, unless a trustworthy family member and solicitor can support you on your behalf.
Finding the right solicitor
Knowing when you have a claim is only half the battle when you handle a trust dispute. You must then choose a solicitor to help guide you through the process. Accordingly, you’ll be able to understand legal limitations and guidelines at every step of the way.
Going it alone can result in you incurring extra stress and financial worry over an already sensitive issue, but it is natural to be wary about which solicitors you trust.
To help you make a sensible decision, it’s a good idea to use specialist online platforms to collate real-world recommendations. This way, you can be confident that the solicitor you have chosen will be able to help.
Funding your legal costs to handle a trust dispute
With 30% of people worrying about approaching a lawyer or solicitor over fears of cost, cost las always been a huge factor in putting people off making a claim. However, when you feel passionate about your case, it’s worth putting in a claim to see if it is successful. You can either create a payment plan for paying your solicitor, or you may seek legal aid. In any case, the most popular kind of claims is those which are no win, no fee. This is because they don’t require a claimant to pay any sort of monetary incentive if their claim falls through. If their claim is successful, then the assets recovered from this claim may help pay for the legal costs associated incurred due to winning.