Can a Trustee dissolve Trust without alerting Beneficiaries ?

Question

My mother is bipolar and sadly had psychotic breaks in the past.
She once locked me in a cellar, threatened to kill my grandparents if i left and year later tried to kill me in fit of rage. I didnt press charges. ran away from home and my grandparents gave me some financial assistance over last decade since i left home.
I moved home to help care for dying grandmother this year. She left a small trust naming my mother and myself as beneficiaries......it is set up at sole discretion of lawyer/trustee to dispense monies. my grandmother wanted me to have funds available if i needed help with bills.
well i do right now after losing my job suddenly.
the lawyer is ignoring my request.....i try to speak to my poor insane mother....she has told me the lawyer wrote her he is no longer in charge of her trust.he also failed ot pay her re taxes when he was still in charge. WTF ? could he dissolve it without telling me ?
Im trying to find good estate lawyer, but am wondering wildly about this.......

great answer. thank you. i just found out a large part of the estate was auctioned at christies. so this is a bigger estate than i thought.
man this will be some major drama.

Answer 1

A trustee cannot cease being a trustee until such time as the trust terminates in accordance with the trust instrument or until such time as the court appoints a successor trustee. If the lawyer is no longer trustee, you need to find out who is the successor trustee.

If the trustee fails to cooperate, you should petition the probate court (Orphans' Court or Surrogate's Court) for an accounting. A court will not discharge a trustee until such time as an accounting is presented to the court for audit with notice to all parties in interest. If you have a current income interest or even a contingent remainder interest, you are entitled to notice and the opportunity of filing objections to the accounting, should you so desire.

If you want a lawyer who is very well qualified, consider contacting a lawyer who is a member of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. Click here for more information about ACTEC members: http://www.actec.org/public/roster/FindFellow.asp