When a breach of trust or fiduciary duty has occurred, a trustee may personally be liable for misuse of estate assets. Whether the trustee’s conduct was negligent or intentional, the heirs can pursue several options against the trustee for breach of his or her fiduciary duty.
Depending on the specific situation, here are some of the things that can be done when a trustee goes bad, including:
- Charge the trustee. When a trustee’s breach of duty causes financial losses, a beneficiary can pursue damages requiring the trustee to pay money to the trust or estate. The bad trustee would have to pay the trust back the assets from his own money including interest.
- Deny fees of the trustee. A trustee is typically paid for his services and reimbursed for his attorney fees from the estate assets. When a breach of trust in Georgia occurs, the trustee is denied the right to collect these fees.
- Remove the trustee. When a breach of fiduciary duty occurs, a trustee can be removed due to the wrongful conduct he intentionally engaged in.
If a trustee cannot be compelled to compensate the others for the breach, then a bad trustee should be removed. Concurrently, the heirs should appoint a temporary trustee and attempt to recover their losses against the trustee.
To address your losses that resulted from a breach of trust in Georgia, contact a Norcross trust litigation lawyer at Shane Smith Law for a consultation today at (980) 246-2656 to learn more.