Can I sue a fiduciary on a trust for not providing an accounting on assets? 7 Answers as of September 21, 2011

Yes, you can sue a trustee to obtain an accounting. I would make demand for an accounting and if one is not provided to you, I would pursue legal action. Statute of Limitations is 3 years to bring an action for an accounting.

A trustee must provide an accounting pursuant to the terms of the trust. In other words, the trust dictates how often an accounting must be done. If the trust is silent, then you must look to the Florida statutes to determine when the accountings should be done. Florida statutes lay out what must be in the accounting. If the trustee refuses to provide an accounting, he or she can be compelled to do an accounting or can even be suspended from their duties. A trustee who breaches their duties can be liable for damages. The statute of limitations (time limit) to bring an action against a trustee may be subject to varying factors and you should probably talk to an attorney about whether you are within the appropriate time limitations.

Yes, if you are a beneficiary of the trust, either currently entitled to distributions or if you would be entitled to distributions if all the current beneficiaries were out of the picture (sorry, but that's the rule), then you can demand a "report" of the trust not an audited financial statement, but sufficient information to fill you in on what is going on.

A trustee has a duty to account to beneficiaries. There is no set 'time limit', but any delay would likely need to be reasonable. If you do not believe the delay is reasonable, you could petition a judge to rule that the trustee must provide you with the accounting you are looking for and that would force the trustee to give his arguments as to why he has not done so yet.

You can bring an action for them to give you an accounting on the trust assets if they don't give you one when you request it in writing.

You must first determine if you are entitled to an accounting. If you are a person who is legally entitled to an accounting, you need request an accounting in writing. An accounting need not be provided more frequently than annually, unless the trust provides otherwise, to a person so entitled to an accounting. You should probably seek legal counsel and provide the same with a copy o the trust in advance of the appointment so you can address your rights. We charge $100 for a one hour consultation with an attorney or if it involves reviewing documents and preparation in advance of the meeting, we charge $300 for the consultation, because there is over one hour of review and preparation for the meeting and one hour for the meeting.

It all depends on what is required by the trust as far has how much time the trustee has to produce an accounting. If they fail to meet said timeframe, you can pursue them legally to produce an accounting.