Personal Finance: Ask the Experts: Help: How do we correct a botched trust?

Personal Finance: Ask the Experts

Get advice on money matters from The Bee's Claudia Buck and a panel of local experts

March 16, 2013

Help: How do we correct a botched trust?

Q: We hired a lawyer to make our trust. Ever since, we've been living a nightmare. The trust has so many mistakes. We asked the lawyer to correct the problems. Eventually we were "fired" by our lawyer, saying we should find another attorney to help us.

We have tried to find someone but nobody wants to revoke our trust as we asked or correct the mistakes. Where do we go from here? We have an unusable trust. We are in our senior years and can't afford to throw money away, one lawyer at a time. (Of course, the attorney cashed our $1,000 check.) Help!

Trusting, Sacramento

A: First, let me say that I am very sorry that you had to go through this experience. You have spent money on an attorney and have received work that is not to your satisfaction. I can certainly see why you are frustrated at this point.

Yet, I cannot recommend that you try to correct these mistakes on your own because you need the assistance of an attorney to ensure that it is done correctly.

What I would suggest is that you talk to family or friends who have had trust work done and who are satisfied with the services they received. Sometimes the best recommendation is from someone who has worked with an attorney who is diligent and responsive. I would caution that, while undoubtedly important, cost should not be the primary factor in choosing an attorney. Often, the saying, "you get what you pay for," is true.

On the other hand, there is no need to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a simple trust.

I would also suggest that you ask the attorney for a refund if the work that was accomplished was not satisfactory. You may not get anywhere, but it does not hurt to ask. Best of luck.

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Claudia Buck is The Sacramento Bee's personal finance columnist. Read all her columns here. Contact her at cbuck@sacbee.com

Terri Carpenter

Terri Carpenter offers advice on job hunting, retraining and career counseling. Carpenter works at Sacramento Works Inc., the career and job training arm of the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA). With 15 years in the field, she has hands-on experience with everyone from first-time job seekers to career professionals seeking advice after a layoff or looking for a mid-career change. Ask her a question.

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