Suing for equitable distribution of a trust.?

You're going to want to hire a lawyer so that you don't have to deal directly with your siblings on this.

Here's the deal as I see it. You had no "act" here. If they want to sue someone.... they are going to have to sue the estate. The only ACTS were committed by your brother, in naming you the beneficiary.... and the account administrator in paying over the money. Which means the proper party defendant would be the estate of your brother.... or the administrator of the IRA if they allocated the funds improperly. But not you.

I think their case will very likely get thrown out. YOU didn't do anything. There is no proper cause of action against YOU. But you are very likely going to need representation to make sure your defense is stated properly.

The distribution of funds, to a named party, is no sort of violation of any law.... equitable or statutory. Personally.... I'd pursue attorney fees for the time spent getting this nonsense dismissed.

It my understanding that a trust can be the beneficiary of an IRA but an IRA is not normally held in a trust. As a co-signer I was the recipient of some accounts of my father who passed but that was a matter of convenience when my father's health was failing. I knew that my father's intention was not to keep those funds out of the trust so after he passed I put those funds into the trust to be shared between my siblings and me. I could legally have kept all those funds but that was not his intention.

Each legal document stands by itself. The IRAS allow for someone to be named beneficiary independent of all other legal documents. The trust is the same, it names what is in it, the IRAS were not mentioned in the trust so the trust has nothing to do with them. Tell your siblings too bad.

It is legal for them to sue. But since you failed to say what state you are in we can't comment on any equity law that may or may not exist.

I'd contact a local lawyer.

It sounds as if you were the named beneficiary on the IRAs but that somehow this conflicted with the terms of the will. You need to get independent legal advice on this. Gather all the documents up first so that you only pay for one consultation.