My cousins aunt used the trust fund money that my mother left me as a child to purchase a house. I was fifteen years old at the time, and had no say. They completely emptied both my brother’s and myself’s account. Can I sue them?

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My cousins aunt used the trust fund money that my mother left me as a child to purchase a house. I was fifteen years old at the time, and had no say. They completely emptied both my brother’s and myself’s account. Can I sue them?

My mother died when I was about fourteen years old. She named my Aunt as the
person in charge of myself brother’s trust fund. My Aunt proceeded to use
375,000 dollars of our trust fund money to purchase HER daughter, my cousin, a
house under the guise that my cousin would be caring for us. I was told by my
cousin that I was just a tenant in the house, and that she couldn’t stand me.
Within less than a year, I was thrown out by sixteen years old and moved in with
relatives from my father’s side of the family. I am twenty seven years old now,
and have never received a dime for the house. Would I be able to sue them? I
don’t need the money- I just want justice, I have a good profession, and my own
property, but it kills me that my cousins essentially robbed me and my brother,
who were basically orphans. Please advise.

Asked on September 26, 2017 under Estate Planning, Florida

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 6 years ago | Contributor

It is likely too late to sue: a trust is a written instrument, and so the time to take action on it should 5 years, the same as the statute of limitations for a written contract (5 years in your state). Even though the statutory time period most likely would not have started running until you were 18, that would still have meant that any action should have been filed by age 23, not 27.


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