Fiduciary Duty Claims
A trustee, executor, or agent who holds someone else's money is bound by law to manage it honestly and in the beneficiaries' interest. When one doesn't, we hold them to account, and when one is wrongly accused, we defend them. We handle fiduciary disputes across Pacific Northwest estates and trusts.
Talk to an attorneyFounded
1965
Attorneys
11
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
Founded
1965
Attorneys
3
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
Fiduciary duty claim lawyers for Bellevue and Seattle families
Oseran Hahn represents beneficiaries and fiduciaries in disputes over how an estate or trust has been managed. A personal representative, trustee, or agent under a power of attorney owes real legal duties, loyalty, prudence, impartiality, and a duty to account, and a breach can drain an estate quietly for years before anyone sees it. We bring claims for beneficiaries who suspect mismanagement, self-dealing, or a fiduciary who has gone silent, and we defend fiduciaries who have done their job and been accused anyway. Either way, the work starts with the records and the numbers, and runs through Washington's TEDRA process.
A fiduciary duty claim is about whether the person entrusted with an estate or trust handled it the way the law requires. We pursue and defend claims that a trustee or personal representative breached their core duties. We challenge imprudent investments and mismanaged assets. We go after self-dealing, conflicts, and outright financial exploitation. We compel the accountings and information beneficiaries are owed. And we move to remove a faithless fiduciary and recover what was lost, working through Washington's TEDRA framework.
Breach of fiduciary duty
A trustee or personal representative doesn't own the assets they hold, they manage them for someone else, and Washington law binds them to real duties: loyalty to the beneficiaries, prudence, impartiality among them, and acting in their interest rather than the fiduciary's own (RCW 11.98.070). A breach can be obvious or quiet, favoring one beneficiary over others, letting property sit and decline, or simply ignoring the duties of the role. We represent beneficiaries who believe a fiduciary has broken those duties, and we defend fiduciaries who are being second-guessed for decisions that were actually sound.
Imprudent investment and mismanagement
Holding someone else's money carefully is itself a legal duty. Washington's prudent investor rule (RCW 11.100) requires a trustee to invest and manage assets with reasonable care, skill, and caution, to diversify unless it's imprudent to do so, and to treat the trust's investments as a portfolio rather than a collection of unrelated bets. A fiduciary who gambles on a concentrated position, lets real estate fall apart, or sits idle while value erodes can be held responsible for the resulting loss. We analyze the investment record against that standard and pursue or defend the conduct on the facts.
Self-dealing, conflicts, and financial exploitation
The most serious breaches involve a fiduciary putting their own interests first. Self-dealing, buying estate property at a discount, commingling funds, paying themselves unreasonable fees, or steering assets to family, strikes at the core duty of loyalty. The same concern runs to agents under a power of attorney (RCW 11.125), who can quietly drain a vulnerable person's accounts long before death. These cases often shade into financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult, and we treat them with the urgency that deserves, moving fast to trace assets, freeze further damage, and hold the responsible person accountable.
Compelling accountings and information
Beneficiaries have a right to know what a fiduciary is doing with the assets, and a fiduciary has a duty to tell them. Trustees must keep beneficiaries reasonably informed and provide accountings (RCW 11.106), and the duty to report and to give notice is built into the trust statutes (RCW 11.98.072). When a fiduciary goes dark, stops answering, won't produce records, delays the accounting, that silence is often the first sign of a problem. We petition the court to compel a full accounting, which frequently turns up the breach that prompted the worry in the first place.
Removing a fiduciary and recovering losses
When a fiduciary has failed, the law provides real remedies. A court can remove a trustee (RCW 11.98.039) or a personal representative (RCW 11.28.250) and replace them with a neutral professional, surcharge them to recover the losses their breach caused, and deny or claw back the fees they paid themselves. All of this runs through Washington's Trust and Estate Dispute Resolution Act (RCW 11.96A), which also gives the parties a path to resolve the matter by agreement. We pursue removal and recovery for beneficiaries, and we defend fiduciaries whose accounting holds up, with the goal of protecting the estate either way.
Sixty years of Pacific Northwest estate and trust work, on both sides of fiduciary disputes. We know what the duties require and what a breach looks like in the records, and we know that these cases are won by the lawyer who actually reads the accounting, line by line, not the one who argues loudest.
We read the accounting, line by line.
Fiduciary cases live in the numbers. We dig through the records, statements, and ledgers to find what was really done with the money, because that detail is what proves a breach or clears a fiduciary who acted properly.
We work both sides.
We pursue faithless fiduciaries and we defend conscientious ones, so we understand how each case looks from the other chair. That tells us early which claims have teeth and which accountings will hold.
We move quickly to stop the bleeding.
When assets are being drained or exploited, delay costs money that may never come back. We act fast to compel records, freeze further damage, and get a neutral fiduciary in place when one is needed.
The attorneys behindthe work.
Our business and corporate attorneys handle this work alongside our litigation team, so you have coverage whether your matter stays transactional or becomes something more.
What clientsask us first.
What does a trustee or executor actually owe the beneficiaries?
A lot. A fiduciary must act loyally and solely in the beneficiaries' interest, manage the assets prudently, treat beneficiaries impartially, keep them reasonably informed, and account for what they do. They can't use the assets for themselves, favor one beneficiary, or simply sit on the job. When they fall short of those duties, Washington law gives beneficiaries real ways to hold them responsible.
I think the trustee is mishandling the money. What can I do?
Start by demanding an accounting, which you're generally entitled to. If the trustee won't provide one or the numbers don't add up, you can petition the court to compel a full accounting and, if there's been a breach, to surcharge the trustee for the losses and even remove them. The first step is almost always getting the records, because the accounting is where mismanagement shows up.
The executor won't tell us anything. Is that allowed?
Generally not. Fiduciaries have a duty to keep beneficiaries reasonably informed and to account for the estate or trust. Persistent silence, refusing to share records, or stalling on the accounting is itself a red flag and often a breach of duty. Washington courts can order a fiduciary to report and account, and continued stonewalling can support removal. You don't have to just wait and hope.
Can a trustee be removed, and who replaces them?
Yes. A court can remove a trustee or personal representative for breach of duty, conflict, incapacity, or persistent failure to administer the estate, and replace them with a successor named in the document or a neutral professional fiduciary. Removal is a serious step and courts don't take it lightly, which is why these cases turn on building a clear record of the fiduciary's conduct.
We're the trustee and a beneficiary is accusing us. Do we need our own lawyer?
Yes, and promptly. A fiduciary accused of breach has real exposure, including personal liability and loss of fees, and the estate's lawyer doesn't represent you in that fight. We defend fiduciaries who did their job, by putting the accounting and the reasoning behind each decision in front of the court. Showing that the duties were taken seriously, with records to back it, is the best defense.
When should I talk to a lawyer about a fiduciary problem?
As soon as something feels off, an accounting that won't come, transactions that don't make sense, a fiduciary who's gone quiet, or money that seems to be disappearing. Losses get harder to recover the longer they run, and some claims have deadlines that start when a fiduciary's report is delivered. Whether you're a worried beneficiary or a fiduciary under fire, an early look protects your position.
Recentarticles.
Fiduciary duty claims and defense for Pacific Northwest estates and trusts, from compelling an accounting to removing a trustee.
Oseran Hahn P.S. · 11225 SE 6th St, Suite 100 · Bellevue, WA 98004
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