Quora Answer: What Options are Available to a Revocable Trust Beneficiary to Compel a Trustee to Provide Required Reports?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “What options are available to a revocable trust beneficiary to compel a trustee to provide required reports and accounting information on the trust’s financial status?”

The beneficiaries of the trust are the actual equitable owners of the trust and its assets.  The trustees are managers of the trust.  As such, the trustees are required, by law, to fulfill their fiduciary duties and provide regular reports on the state of the trust and its assets.  The beneficiaries have the right to question the trustees on their work, including asset management, compensation, and anything pertaining to the management of the trust.  In the event that the trustees fail to fulfill their duties, the beneficiaries may report to the trustees’ office, and take out a court order compelling the trustees to report on the status of the trust and its assets, and if need, be have them replaced.