Jason M. Anderson

I cannot recommend Jason M. Anderson as a trust attorney based on my deeply disappointing experience with his mishandling of trust property and the distribution of an IRA.

Despite repeated requests over a three-year period to obtain Comparative Market Analyses (CMAs) from qualified realtors for two trust-owned properties, Mr. Anderson chose to rely solely on outdated appraisals. I personally provided him with a realtor's contact information, yet he dismissed the request by stating, *"My only obligation is to settle the trust."

As a result, both properties were sold for far below fair market value. One was sold to a beneficiary who, just 14 days later, turned around and sold it for a net profit of $420,000 — a staggering difference. The second property was transferred to another beneficiary as part of their inheritance, again at significantly below market value. Two local realtors later confirmed via CMAs that both properties were worth nearly double what Mr. Anderson sold them for.

In addition to the property issues, Mr. Anderson mismanaged an inherited IRA held within the trust. Instead of following the trust’s clear directive to seek professional advice to minimize the tax burden on beneficiaries, he ignored advice from both the financial planner managing the IRA and the tax preparer. He opted to liquidate the IRA accounts immediately, triggering over $60,000 in unnecessary state and federal taxes. The correct action — as explained to him — would have been to transfer the assets into inherited IRAs for the beneficiaries, allowing for tax deferral over a 10-year period. This advice was ignored.

To make matters worse, Mr. Anderson withheld $50,000 from three beneficiaries to protect himself from potential lawsuits, stating he was waiting for the statute of limitations to expire. When asked when that would be, he admitted he didn’t know and would "have to research it." It’s now been over three years, and we’ve received no update, no accounting, and no return of funds. The trust remains open with no resolution in sight.

This pattern of disregard for fiduciary duty, professional advice, and beneficiary interest is unacceptable and has caused significant financial harm and emotional distress. I strongly caution anyone considering Mr. Anderson for trust administration or estate planning services to look elsewhere. In seeking legal advice to explore our options, one attorney candidly stated, "While what I see Anderson did wasn’t illegal, I would most definitely give him a D-minus for his execution." That assessment sums up our experience all too well.

I cannot say enough about the team at Anderson Irrigation. We had a water leak happening and I was stressed out wasting so much water. These guys help guide be through the steps to find the leak and then I had them come out to fix. Everyone I worked with was professional, helpful, and was efficient at the work they did for us. I HIGHLY recommend this team over anyone else! Thank you!