You have no duty to sue, it’s true. If someone owes you money and you don’t want to go to the trouble of collecting it, or suing for it, you have the right to just let it go by the wayside. It ‘s your money and you have the right to give it away.

Not so with Trustees! Trustees are required to enforce all legally enforceable claims a Trust has against any party. If there is money owed and the debtor refuses to pay, the Trustee has to take action. If there is a mortgage on real property and the payments stop, then the Trustee must foreclose.

The Trustee does not have the luxury of allowing a debtor to walk away from a Trust debt. Why? Because the Trustee is in charge of other people’s money. So even though the Trustee personally may not want to sue, there is an affirmative duty under California law for the Trustee to take action.

The duty to enforce claims does not mean, however, that a Trustee must spend more to enforce a claim than it is worth. For example, if someone owes the Trust $100, it makes no sense to spend $20,000 on legal fees to collect it. It may make some sense to write a letter, make some calls, or file a small-claims lawsuit. But that all depends on the amounts involved.

The bottom line: if you are a Trustee you have a duty to stand up for the rights of the Trust beneficiaries.  It is the beneficiaries’ money, so Trustees have a duty to sue.