I am disabled and was one of the beneficiaries of my family trust for 21 years. I just found out that 8 months ago, the donor/trustee removed my name from the trust. Is this legal.
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I am disabled and was one of the beneficiaries of my family trust for 21 years. I just found out that 8 months ago, the donor/trustee removed my name from the trust. Is this legal.
Beneficiary of revocable trust established 1997. Never notified. Disabled. Removed
from trust in 2018.
Asked on April 24, 2019 under Estate Planning, New Hampshire
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
It is completely legal. You write that it is revocable trust; that means the donor/trustee has the right to change it whenever he wants, however he wants, and can remove anyone he wants as a beneficiary.
It is voluntary for someone to set up and fund a revocable trust. Your disability does not give you a right to someone else's money (the money the donor put the trust) or to payments from a voluntarily set-up trust. (Remember: they could have not established a trust at all--most people don't--or if they did, had no obligation to make you a beneficiary in the first place.) The anti-discrimination laws apply to employment, housing, and places of public accommodations (e.g. stores, restaurants, bars, hotels) and do not apply to private trusts.
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