Why naming one child as trustee often tears families apart

Christopher Ryan, a professor at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, warns that this specific power imbalance creates a fertile ground for resentment. When one sibling holds discretion over trust distributions, it validates preexisting fears of parental favoritism. The analysis, published in the Washington University Law Review, examined civil filings from the San Francisco Superior Court between 2014 and 2020.

Nearly a quarter of the disputes involved a beneficiary suing a sibling or relative who served as the trustee. While trusts are commonly marketed as a way to avoid the public scrutiny and costs of probate, the data suggests otherwise. These cases are notoriously protracted, with the average dispute lasting 481 days. Even when intended to preserve harmony, the reliance on revocable trusts often drags families into multi-year legal conflicts that drain the very wealth the documents were designed to protect.