RMO Case Spotlight

Background 

Our client’s father, a lifelong real estate investor, initially split his trust equally between our client (the “son”) and his sister. The father later intended to amend the trust to leave everything to the son, but a mistake by the estate planner left it unchanged. Communications and documents reflected the son as the successor trustee and sole beneficiary, but after the father’s sudden death from COVID-19, the sister demanded her half.

Complicating matters, the sister’s husband, diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, was acting as trustee. His inability to manage the estate led to properties falling into disrepair, unpaid bills, and mounting financial damage.

Solution

RMO LLP was engaged to correct the oversight in the trust and address the mismanagement of the estate. Representing the son, we filed a petition to reform the trust, arguing that it did not reflect the father’s true intentions. Additionally, we petitioned to have the sister’s husband removed as trustee and surcharged for his negligent management of the estate, which led to considerable financial losses.

The litigation process was contentious. At times, the conflict became quite nasty, but our team remained focused on securing the best possible outcome for our client. Ultimately, we were able to reach a favorable settlement.

Results

The settlement allowed the son to retain almost the entire trust estate. This settlement was advantageous for our client, as continuing to litigate would have been costly and would likely have diminished the value of the single property he agreed to give up. The most significant achievement, however, was saving one of the properties from foreclosure—an outcome made possible by our intervention. This particular property was the son’s childhood vacation home, and it held sentimental value as the place he envisioned starting his family as a newlywed. With the settlement in place and approved by the court, our client can now fulfill that dream.