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What Kind of Lawyer Is Needed for Problems With a Living Trust?

Most people who retain the trust dispute attorneys at Buffington Law Firm have never before dealt with or retained their own attorney. Many people are aware of the fact that most attorneys focus their expertise and practices in specific areas, but they are not really familiar with the details of such practices areas. This is particularly true in disputes involving living trusts.

When beneficiaries are having a dispute with a successor-trustee of a trust, or when trustees are having difficulties with problem beneficiaries, they naturally know that they need a “trust” attorney. There are many kinds of trust attorneys, however. Many attorneys focus their practice on “estate planning” which in practice usually means that attorney and law firm serves their clients by drafting trusts, wills, and other documents as part of an overall estate plan. Most trust documents are created by these attorneys.

Trust disputes and handling living trust disputes is a distinctly different practice area from estate planning.  Trust dispute attorneys are trial and litigation attorneys. Many or most lawyers who practice in this field of trust disputes do not create estate plans as part of their practice. Instead, when an estate plan goes awry, a successor-trustee fails or refuses to administer the trust properly, or when a beneficiary brings litigation against a trustee, this represents a potential litigation matter and usually requires a true trial and litigation attorney.  Litigation, dispute, and trial skills represent a distinctly different skill set from estate planning. While it is certainly true that some trust dispute attorneys also practice estate planning, this is probably not the general rule.  In our experience few estate planning attorneys also practice litigation.

At Buffington Law Firm, we are trust dispute attorneys. We do not draft trusts or other estate planning documents as a general rule, and we do not practice estate planning. We are trial and litigation attorneys with decades of experience in resolving trust disputes either through negotiation, mediation, or actual trial in court or arbitration.

If you have a trust dispute either as a trustee dealing with problem beneficiaries, or as a beneficiary dealing with a problem successor-trustee, our trust dispute resolution attorneys have decades of experience in these matters. We invite you to contact us for a free legal consultation. All consultations are handled by actual experienced trust litigation attorneys and are completely confidential and protected by attorney-client privilege. There is never any obligation.