Can A Trustee Sue A Beneficiary For Harassment?

There has been a lot of literature regarding whether a beneficiary can sue a trustee, but little has been said about whether a trustee can sue a beneficiary, especially when the latter is engaged in harassment tactics towards the trustee?

Can a trustee sue a beneficiary for harassment? Sure. Anyone can sue anyone.

Will the trustee win and is this the proper legal remedy to take to stop the harassment are the more important questions.

What Amounts to Harassment

In New York, harassment is defined as a course of conduct that is intended to annoy, threaten, intimidate, or alarm another person and which causes a reasonable person to fear for their safety or that of their immediate family. Harassment can be civil or criminal.

A beneficiary engages in harmful harassing conduct toward the trustee when the beneficiary:

• Repeatedly follows the trustee in a public place or engages in conduct that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety;
• Makes repeated phone calls or sends unwanted text messages, emails, or social media messages that is intended to annoy or threaten the trustee;
• Uses threatening or abusive language toward the trustee in person or in written communication; or
• Makes false statements or spreads rumors about the trustee with the intent to harm the trustee’s reputation or cause emotional distress.

Sometimes, a beneficiary will refuse to sign a release for no apparent reason, delaying the trust administration and distribution. This, however, does not constitute harassment, as it is within the beneficiary’s legal right to refuse to sign a release.

Remedy

When a beneficiary engages in harmful conduct constituting harassment or other conduct that tends to delay trust administration and distribution, it is important to seek counsel from a trust litigation lawyer to know your remedies. Filing a harassment lawsuit may not be the best option.

It’s important to understand why the beneficiary is acting that way. A trust litigation lawyer will be able to represent you in talks with the beneficiary to avoid emotions and other unnecessary conversations taking place and to able to get to the root cause of the problem. Usually, it is just about money and the need for a proper trust accounting that a beneficiary will accept.

Trust Accounting

When a beneficiary refuses to accept an informal accounting or a partial distribution or to sign a release, getting a trust accounting lawyer that can prepare your accounting schedules properly is important to avoid any issues that may arise regarding improper recording or questionable expenses.

Trust accounting is a complex task that requires a review of all bank statements from the time the trust started and recording it in the proper schedule, whether it is principal, income, distribution, expense or commission.

A properly-made trust accounting will ensure that your informal account can withstand the scrutiny of court, if it has to come to that, because a beneficiary who does not accept the informal account will, sooner or later, petition the court for the trustee to settle the account judicially.

A beneficiary harassing the trustee can happen, but filing a civil or harassment suit against the beneficiary is usually not the best option. Understanding where the beneficiary is coming from and the reason for the beneficiary’s conduct will more likely lead to a resolution of the conflict than a civil or criminal lawsuit for harassment.

Having a trust accounting and litigation lawyer to represent you in your dealings with an unruly beneficiary can help immensely. Should you need assistance, we at the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin are here for you. We have offices in New York City, Brooklyn, NY and Queens, NY. You can call us at 212-233-1233 or send us an email at [email protected].