Trust Litigation Attorney in Denver

Decades of Combined Experience. Assertive Advocacy When It Counts.

Trust litigation is different from trust administration. When a trustee is mismanaging assets, refusing to provide accountings, or favoring their own interests over other beneficiaries, you need representation focused on conflict, not routine settlement tasks. At Frost & Beck, PC, we handle contested trust matters in the Denver area, from beneficiary disputes over ambiguous trust language to formal court proceedings seeking a trustee’s removal or surcharge.

We pair decades of combined experience in estate planning and family law with a genuine commitment to the people we represent. When litigation is necessary, we advocate assertively. When a negotiated resolution serves the family better, we have the training to pursue it.

If you’re facing a trust dispute or have concerns about a trustee’s conduct, call Frost & Beck, PC at (720) 330-4623 to discuss your situation.

What Colorado Law Requires of a Trustee

Under the Colorado Uniform Trust Code, a trustee must administer the trust in good faith, act solely in the interests of the beneficiaries, manage assets with reasonable care and skill, treat beneficiaries impartially, and keep them reasonably informed. These aren’t suggestions. A trustee who is also a beneficiary owes those same duties to every other beneficiary and can’t use their position to favor their own interests.

The most common grounds we see for a trust dispute include:

• Self-dealing and breach of loyalty: Using the trustee position for personal financial benefit or commingling trust funds with personal accounts
• Failure to prudently invest: Ignoring diversification requirements under the Colorado Uniform Prudent Investor Act, concentrating assets in a single holding, or taking on inappropriate risk
• Withholding accountings: Refusing to provide the financial reporting that beneficiaries are legally entitled to receive
• Disputed trust language: Disagreements over how to interpret ambiguous terms in the trust document, which may require a court to reform or amend the trust itself

Remedies Available in a Colorado Trust Dispute

Colorado courts have meaningful tools to protect beneficiaries when a trustee has breached their duties. If a trustee’s conduct threatens serious harm to the trust, a court can act quickly to limit or suspend the trustee’s powers on an emergency basis while the underlying dispute is resolved, helping prevent further damage before it compounds.

Beyond emergency measures, a court may order any of the following:

• Compelled accounting: A court order requiring the trustee to produce the financial records and reports they’ve withheld
• Trustee removal: Removal for persistent failure to administer the trust properly, even without a damages claim
• Trust reformation: Court modification of ambiguous or disputed trust language to reflect what the grantor actually intended
• Trustee surcharge: An award of compensatory damages, interest, and attorney fees against a trustee found to have breached their fiduciary duty

Colorado common law also allows a beneficiary who proves a breach of trust to recover reasonable attorney fees from the trustee. That’s worth understanding before you weigh the costs of pursuing a claim.

How We Approach Trust Disputes

No two families arrive at a trust dispute the same way. Some are dealing with a sibling-trustee who has treated trust assets as their own. Others face a corporate trustee who has gone silent. Our approach starts with your specific goals and circumstances, then builds a strategy around them.

Christelle Beck is trained in mediation, collaborative law, and other alternative dispute resolution methods. When the family relationship is worth preserving and a negotiated resolution is possible, that path can avoid the cost, delay, and lasting conflict of a courtroom battle. When it isn’t, we have the courtroom experience to pursue the full range of remedies available under Colorado law.

Trust disputes sometimes surface alongside other legal needs, such as a guardianship question tied to a family law matter. Because we handle both estate planning and family law, clients dealing with overlapping issues don’t have to start over with a new firm.

Talk to a Denver Trust Litigation Lawyer

If you believe a trustee has breached their duties, or you’re a trustee facing a dispute from beneficiaries, act promptly. Colorado law sets meaningful deadlines on trust claims, and early legal guidance can shape both strategy and outcome. Every client works directly with their attorney from the first conversation through resolution.

Contact Frost & Beck, PC at (720) 330-4623 to schedule a consultation with a trust litigation attorney serving Denver and the surrounding area.