California laws outline specific protections for people, including trust beneficiaries. If you are the current or future beneficiary of a trust, it is important to understand the full scope of your rights to protect your interests.
If you’re named as a beneficiary to someone’s estate or within a trust, it’s natural to want to know what this means and how this will affect you.
A trust or legal document formally creates what is known as a fiduciary relationship between a beneficiary and a trustee. The creator of the trust, also known as the grantor or trustor, creates and funds the trust for the eventual advantage of the beneficiary. The trustee then is responsible for overseeing trust asset distribution and ensuring that any other terms inside the trust are followed.
Any age individual can be a beneficiary, but minors are not eligible to take advantage of their inheritances until they reach the age of majority of 18. Bear this in mind when thinking about the rights of a full beneficiary, as a trustee cannot give a distribution to someone who hasn’t reached age 18.Â
Beneficiary rights include the right to obtain a copy of the trust document, the right to timely and proper distributions, the right to challenge a trust’s validity, the right to a yearly accounting, and the right to receive notifications regarding changes in the trust. If a trustee fails to comply with their fiduciary duties, you may be eligible to file a claim against them.
Setting up a trust with the careful guidance of a Pasadena estate planning lawyer can help minimize the possibility of conflicts and confusion in the future. If you’re not sure who to name as a trustee or personal representative for estate matters, we can help walk you through the process of choosing someone you trust.
