I am a beneficiary in my deceased grandparents' trust, with a whopping 4% share, along with my two brothers, each with a 4% share. My aunt is the sole trustee and owns an 88% share of the properties in the trust. My brothers and I wanted to be bought out of our portion of the trust (as she did for others), but she only offered 1/2 of our shares as a buyout (based on the appraisal) which we refused, and so now she is preparing the properties as rentals, to be sold at a later time when the housing market rebounds. The properties are owned free and clear - no mortgages.

She is drawing up paperwork to have my brothers and I sign off to have the properties taken out of the trust so that she can refinance so that the refurbishing and remodeling of the properties can be funded. I don't want to sign because I don't want this to go forward. I'd rather force her to buy me out reasonably, or sell as is to another buyer right now. Can she refinance without my signature to take the properties out of the trust? Someone mentioned that I could put a lien on the properties as well to stop her.

What rights do my brothers and I have?

When you mentioned that she was drawing up paperwork to have the properties taken out of trust, does that mean she is essentially "buying" you out? I took business law a while back, and if I can recall, I don't think she can take the properties out of trust without your agreement. But, she does have majority shares, so couldn't she do whatever with the properties because she is the sole trustee? The only thing is, she would have to pay your rental revenue and then sale profit at the 4% in the future. But I might be a little confused, its been a while and I might be mixing up my corporate share law versus trusts. Also, I'm speaking from Canadian law, so does anyone else have some expertise on this?