Can Beneficiaries Force a Pennsylvania Executor to Prepare an Accounting?

An experienced Philadelphia probate dispute attorney can help you if you need to force an executor to prepare an official accounting. You can begin this by filing a petition for accounting with the orphan's court. If your petition satisfies the judge, then an order to account is issued. If you are curious about what happens if an executor cannot explain where assets went or why particular expenses were incurred, then the executor might be found personally responsible for any shortfall. This is why you need to verify whether or not the numbers add up when going through this process.

The accounting has to be submitted with a very specific petition. Accompanying petitions and accountings may vary from one county to another in Pennsylvania but it is important to identify an experienced Philadelphia probate dispute attorney to help you with this process. Bringing forward claims against a fiduciary requires that you are knowledgeable about what constitutes a breach of fiduciary duty. Forcing an accounting might help to reveal some of the decisions that were made by the fiduciary and whether or not these were truly in line with his or her legal responsibility to represent the best interests of the beneficiaries. Whether it is a trust or some other type of estate planning vehicle that you believe has led to problems, you need to consult with a lawyer who is knowledgeable in this area of the law.

The very evidence that you need in order to initiate an inheritance or a probate dispute might be included in the accounting records officially requested. When you suspect that something illegal has occurred, it is always essential to identify the help of the right attorney as soon as possible to initiate a full and fair accounting. This full and fair accounting might reveal that a breach of fiduciary duty has occurred and this can help you to recover compensation that you would have otherwise been owed had the person not violated the law and put you in this unfortunate situation. If you are confused about how to proceed, you need to have a sit-down consultation with a lawyer. Your initial consultation with a lawyer will revolve around the issues that you believe to be happening and what evidence you might already have that illustrates this.

Filing a probate dispute should not be hard and the support of an attorney goes a long way in helping you. Only an attorney can advise you about what to anticipate and can help you figure out what pieces of documentation you should have on hand to help you. If you make a mistake, it’s hard to move forward with your claim and file in a timely fashion.

A full accounting of where the money inside a trust went will reveal whether or not decisions were made that benefitted someone else other than the beneficiaries of the trust or benefitted the trustee directly. A breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit can be brought when it can be shown that a person who had a specific fiduciary responsibility to represent the best interests of the trust beneficiaries fell short and instead put his or her own concerns or the concerns of another third party ahead of those people to whom a duty was owed. You need to have appropriate evidence in order to initiate a lawsuit like this and it can be very overwhelming for people who have never moved forward with a claim like this before. A Philadelphia probate dispute lawyer is a powerful advocate for your best interests and one who can help you over the duration of the entire process.