First Midwest Wealth Management was appointed successor trustee of my father's Trust on December 22, 2014. Soon after, Michele Morgan, Angela Hart, and Rachael Gould, of First Midwest Bank Wealth Management have caused nothing but trouble for the beneficiary of the Trust, to whom they owe a fiduciary duty. Michele Morgan, the trustee, doesn't have an MBA or any accredited college degree in financial management.
The Trust shares are to be divided into two shares, 1/2 to my brother , 1/2 to me. The Trust dictates that upon written request, a beneficiary " . . . may withdraw any part or all of the principal of his share at any time or times. The trustee shall make payment without question."
On January 16, 2015, I wrote a letter to Michele Morgan and Angela Hart instructing them to distribute one-half of the Trust assets to me. I also told them to not FedEx another letter to me which is wasteful, costing over $20.00 for standard overnight, which they charged to the Trust. A 49 cent standard mail stamp would suffice. I also instructed them to disclose their institution's fee charges and their attorney's hourly rate, to provide to me an itemizing of their work, and attorney's work performed by the 30th of each month. They did not. They are required as trustees to give full disclosure to beneficiaries. I also told them to not waste away my inheritance assets.
Although I instructed them to distribute to me my assets from the Trust, which they must do "without question," they did not and never even responded. I have not yet received a penny of my own money.
First Midwest Bank sold shares of a profitable stock mutual fund that has done well for years, against my own explicit instructions, causing a loss of future profits, and had put thousands of dollars into a money market fund yielding only 1/2% per year, violating the prudent investor rule for trustees.
They paid money out to others, but none to me whatsoever, which is required of them pursuant to my father's Trust Declaration. The first priority is to the beneficiaries, and they do this without my consent.
They ignore badly needed repairs to the property, despite my demands that they pay for the repairs. One needed repair is a roof replacement, if not done soon, will begin to leak, causing damage.
Wasting Trust money, Michele Morgan and Angela Hart of First Midwest Bank hired a law firm, Bellock & Coogen, Ltd., with Carrie Buddingh representing them to fight me, the beneficiary, charging their fees against my father's Trust. First Midwest Bank chose to fight me to keep from me what is mine, and wasting Trust assets by doing so. They have now hired a second law firm to fight me.
I hired a CPA to do the tax returns, I filed them, and submitted copies of everything to First Midwest Bank. They, nonetheless, had Gorden & Co. do work on the tax returns, creating more expense.
Although I am sole trustee of my mother's Trust, which owns one-half of the residence property, First Midwest Bank said they won't acknowledge the property insurance I procured, and they refuse to pay any of the premium for it. They apparently think they have more say than I do, a one-half owner, about what property insurance policy can be purchased.
I sent another letter March 7, 2015, to Michele Morgan and Angela Hart, telling them again to immediately release to me my money, authorized by my father's Trust Declaration. I still have not received a penny from them, despite the fact that they keep paying themselves and their attorneys.
I had to hire an attorney to get what is rightfully mine from First Midwest Bank, and now have to pay him. My father never intended for this kind of thing to happen, never appointed First Midwest Bank as trustee, and wanted all the Trust assets to go to me and my brother, and not to go to First Midwest Bank and their lawyers, which they are taking from the Trust.
Michele Morgan and her attorney, Carrie Buddingh, despite my Illinois state certified appraiser's written and certified appraisal on the residence property, which he personally inspected inside and out, want to inspect the house themselves, running up more unnecessary expense to charge against the Trust.
On April 12, 2015, I sent another letter to Michele Morgan, itemizing bills I needed to be paid by them, but have not received any payments.
First Midwest Bank engages in a conflict of interest with, breaches their fiduciary duties to, and then litigates against the Trust's beneficiaries. They continue to waste away the assets.
I advise anyone who is contemplating appointing a trustee for his or her Trust and it's assets, which they worked hard for years for, and saved for, and invested, to avoid First Midwest Bank and to go somewhere else. My opinion is that First Midwest Bank's interest is not for the Trust's settler or his beneficiaries, but rather, for themselves and to take from the Trust or Estate as much money as possible for themselves. read more
