Can I Select Another Attorney for a Trust

My question involves estate proceedings in the state of: Indiana

Hi all. Some of you will know that I posted here recently concerning my father's death and the things that I was dealing with. The attorney that set up the trust is basically ignoring me. I have called and left messages, sent e-mails, they can't even bother to send an acknowledgement. The office person told me their paralegal left and they have been doing double duty. Well, that's no excuse for ignoring clients.
I have been worried about getting my father's taxes filed. This attorney said they would do this. Here it is nearly April and I have heard nothing. My question is can I use another attorney to handle the trust/estate? Does it have to be the one that set it up? What makes this difficult is the fact that I live in South Carolina and have to go to Indiana to deal with this.

Are you the trustee?

I am the successor trustee.

Who is presently the trustee? If it's not you, the choice of lawyer is their business, not yours.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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Who is presently the trustee? If it's not you, the choice of lawyer is their business, not yours.

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I am the successor trustee as designated by my father. I have the paperwork establishing that there is a trust and that I am successor trustee.

The only way you would still be the successor trustee under those facts would be if your father were still alive.

So from what you're telling us, you've assumed responsibility for the trust as trustee. Read the trust. What, if anything, does it say about the lawyer for the trust and your discretion to select or change the lawyer for the trust?

Okay, so I am trustee. The lawyer referred to me as successor trustee. I will check the trust to see what it says about that, if anything.

You were the successor trustee until you became the trustee. With the facts known, the lawyer's statement is clear enough - but if you come to us and tell us,"There's a trust and I'm the successor trustee" without giving the factual context, you're telling us that somebody else is still the trustee.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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You were the successor trustee until you became the trustee. With the facts known, the lawyer's statement is clear enough - but if you come to us and tell us,"There's a trust and I'm the successor trustee" without giving the factual context, you're telling us that somebody else is still the trustee.

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The trust lists my father as trustee. In the event of his death I become his successor trustee. All I can tell you is what it says. There is nothing in there that says anything about the attorney. I also checked the paperwork I received from the attorney after my father's death. It establishes that there is a trust in existence and lists me as successor trustee. It lists the date that I became successor trustee. It lists my duties and powers but does not specifically mention anything about an attorney. It just states that I have the authority to direct anything to do with the revocable trust.

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Quoting Michael56

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The trust lists my father as trustee. In the event of his death I become his successor trustee. All I can tell you is what it says. There is nothing in there that says anything about the attorney. I also checked the paperwork I received from the attorney after my father's death. It establishes that there is a trust in existence and lists me as successor trustee. It lists the date that I became successor trustee. It lists my duties and powers but does not specifically mention anything about an attorney. It just states that I have the authority to direct anything to do with the revocable trust.

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You are getting a little confused about the term "successor trustee". You were the successor trustee until you became the actual trustee. You are now just the trustee and should no longer be using the word successor. You will avoid a lot of confusion if you stop using that word.