Quora Answer: Can Estate Executors to Withhold Paying Heirs if the Money is in a Trust?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Is it possible for executors of an estate to hold up paying heirs if the money is in a trust?”

If the money is in a trust, that trust would have trustees.  It is the trustees who manage that trust, not the executors.  Since you mention executors, that would imply the settlor of the trust is deceased, and that trust is now a testamentary trust.  A testamentary trust is an irrevocable trust.  An irrevocable trust is not part of the probate process, and does not come under the will.  The executors of the estate have no jurisdiction over the trust, and no one may make a claim upon the trust unless they are beneficiaries, or can claim to be one.

It is the duty of the trustees to ensure that the beneficiaries receive what is due to them in accordance to the trust agreement.  Should the trustees fail to do so, the beneficiaries can start the legal process to remove the trustees and replace them with a third party, or themselves.