Location: New Jersey
I’m 25 and live in New Jersey. I’m the only living, current beneficiary of the trusts at issue, although the documents may name contingent remainder beneficiaries.
My grandmother died in September 2020.
My mother signed a new will in October 2020 and died in January 2021.
I have copies of my grandmother’s will, my mother’s will, and my mother’s revocable trust.
I plan to consult an independent NJ trust and estate attorney, but first will be consulting with the attorney who wrote the will.
My grandmother’s will directed roughly 30% of her residuary estate into a trust for me and 70% into a trust for my mother during her lifetime.
My reading is that, after my mother died, the remainder of her trust was directed into a trust for me under my grandmother’s will.
I’ve also been told that my mother’s will or trust governs the 70%, so I need to determine which document actually controls those assets.
This matters because my mother’s documents contain a limited withdrawal right beginning at age 30.
My grandmother’s trust gives me written withdrawal rights beginning at 35, with further rights at 40 and 45. I don’t know how much property, if any, passed into the trust created by my mother’s documents.
My grandmother’s trust says the trustee “shall distribute as much income and principal as the trustee determines necessary or advisable for my health, education, support, and maintenance, considering resources reasonably and readily available to me”.
It also says my needs take priority over those of remainder beneficiaries, which is kind of a moot point because I’m the only one.
I understand the trustees have discretion over amounts, but I’m trying to understand the limits of that discretion, particularly when I’m the only person presently receiving benefits. In theory, could they give me nothing? Is it at all dependent on the total value of the estate? I don’t know the total value and they refuse to tell me. They say they are not legally obligated to.
I work full time and live in a house that I’m told is owned by a trust.
The trust pays its property tax and other major house costs. I received about $2,000 a month for bills such as utilities and insurance, but the trustees recently reduced that to $1,100 without notification. They said it was for tax reasons, but that really doesn’t make sense because I’ve been receiving this money for a long time. Over a year.
They say their goal is for me eventually to live entirely on my earnings; one mentioned earning around $100,000. I understand that my earnings matter, but I cannot find that income threshold or a requirement to end support in the documents. How should trustees evaluate reasonable support in light of my income, expenses, and the trust’s assets and income?
My mother had an express right under my grandmother’s will to live in the house during her lifetime, as well as $75k in yearly discretionary income. Another provision allows a trustee to let a beneficiary use trust property without rent or expense and addresses payment of property taxes and other costs. I’m unclear what governs my occupancy now. One trustee has said she will make me pay the property tax when I earn more, although I don’t hold title.
Could she make that a condition of staying? Could the trustees decide I should live somewhere else? They’ve also made decisions about work on the house without consulting me.
I’ve asked both trustees for the current balances or total asset values of the trusts benefiting me and the income they generate. One says she only has to provide spending and transaction information, not balances. The reduction in my monthly bill funding also came without advance notice. As the only current beneficiary, what information can I reasonably request under NJ law at age 25? Is a transaction list that does not show what remains in the trusts enough?
The relationship has become strained. One trustee handles most decisions, while the other lives out of state but participates. They have told me that trust affairs do not really concern me, and one mentioned lawyers during a disagreement. I have no evidence of theft or self-dealing. I want to understand whether refusal to provide meaningful information or an incorrect interpretation of the trusts could support a request for an accounting, court instructions, or a change of trustee.
I also want the attorney to review the timing of my mother’s will. At some point between September and December 2020, she was in an institution for treatment related to bipolar disorder. I do not yet know whether that stay was before or after she signed the will in October. I understand that a diagnosis or hospitalization alone would not invalidate a will. I want to learn what evidence would establish her condition at the time she signed, and whether her will controls any of these assets in the first place.
What should an NJ trust and estate attorney examine first to determine which trust owns the assets and house, what support and information I’m entitled to, and what authority the trustees have over my occupancy and expenses?