My mother passed away and I知 the trustee. Where do I start to manage their affairs?

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Don Ro

^^^
Why would he need an attorney if he might be the trustee? Don't trusts spell out what's what?
Isn't that the point of a trust...to avoid probate/attorney?
Not being an ass, just curious.

They may spell out what's what but they don't spell out "the how the **** do I deal with THIS issue"

There is a difference between knowing WHAT needs to be done and knowing HOW to do what needs to be done.

[Don Ro]

^^^
I get that...but a probate attorney was suggested...he already has an attorney.

[flatbutt]

My sincere condolences CD. It took me a long time to clear my Moms affairs but she died without a will. If you are acknowledged as trustee in her will and there is no challenge to that then you'll be fine.

But mourn your loss first! If there is an estate to settle you do indeed have a lot to do. Others have chimed in with good tips but do take care of yourself first.

[mreid]

Originally Posted by Don Ro

^^^
Why would he need a probate attorney if he might be the trustee? Don't trusts spell out what's what?
Isn't that the point of a trust...to avoid probate/attorney?
Not being an ass, just curious.

Unfortunately, if it is a trust he will have to go through probate.

A quick story. When my MIL died, a financial advisor had recommended earlier that they establish a trust for their assets to ensure that if one predecessed the other the survivor couldn稚 go against the will of the deceased. They did. When she passed, suddenly all of his accounts and assets were frozen until they go through probate (now set for mid-July) in order to determine what assets belong to him vs. the trust. The whole thing is a bit of a nightmare for him.

[Don Ro]

After having a RLT drawn up, this is not my understanding.
.
"One of the primary purposes of forming a revocable living trust is to avoid probate. Making a trust isn't all that complicated to accomplish, and you can rest assured knowing that your estate and your beneficiaries won't get bogged down in a court-supervised probate process after your death."
.
Assets Held in a Revocable Trust Bypass Probate
.
https://www.thebalance.com/how-does-a-revocable-living-trust-avoid-probate-3505224

[GH85Carrera]

Sorry for your loss.

I was the executor of my dad's will. Mom died 6 years before dad died.

I called my attorney and brought the will and any documents I could find. He walked me the steps. He was at the courthouse regularly and he set up a time for me to appear before a judge. I had to swear to follow the directions in the will. We went upstairs with the judges orders and the clerk made several "official copies" with stamps on them for me, for a fee of course.

With that judges order called some weird legal term that I don't remember, the banks would talk to me. Before that they acknowledged I was the executor, and that dad did indeed have an account and even a safety depot box. They would tell me nothing of what was in the accounts or even the number of the safety deposit box. With the judges order, or that funny named document, I was golden.

I had to have access to a scanner, fax, and copier to perform the duties of the executor and it took a lot of work. In the end everything went smoothly and the estate was closed.

Just listen to the attorney. Hopefully you have one that is a good one. Remember it is a fact, one half of all the attorneys graduated in the bottom half of the class. Don't hire that one that just squeaked through.

[ted]

Originally Posted by Don Ro

After having a RLT drawn up, this is not my understanding.
.
"One of the primary purposes of forming a revocable living trust is to avoid probate. Making a trust isn't all that complicated to accomplish, and you can rest assured knowing that your estate and your beneficiaries won't get bogged down in a court-supervised probate process after your death."
.
Assets Held in a Revocable Trust Bypass Probate
.
https://www.thebalance.com/how-does-a-revocable-living-trust-avoid-probate-3505224

Don I agree with you and that was my experience as well.
But Probate and Trust laws vary from state to state.
State laws change occasionally so your Trust should be reviewed occasionally.
A trust that works in California does not work in Colorado.
In some states it appears Probate is part of the process.

My mom had a trust, we met with her lawyer a few times before she passed from cancer.
Before my mom passed the lawyer had already given me a short list of where the assets were and who to call to resolve/dissolve the accounts.
Our trust worked well.
But while my mom was still alive it required pre-planning and a few expensive visits to the lawyer that wrote the trust.
It is a difficult issue planning for your parents passing away.

[SCadaddle]

"With that judges order called some weird legal term that I don't remember, the banks would talk to me. Before that they acknowledged I was the executor, and that dad did indeed have an account and even a safety depot box. They would tell me nothing of what was in the accounts or even the number of the safety deposit box. With the judges order, or that funny named document, I was golden."

That would probably be the document known as "Letters of Testamentary".

1) The bank isn't going to shut down an account because they noticed an obituary in the newspaper or someone mentioned the passing of someone else. They'll need a copy of the death certificate to do that. And once they have that, unless you or someone else is a co-owner of the account, the bank will shut down access to the account.

2) Any accounts that list beneficiaries such as CD's or Life Insurance---listed beneficiaries will always trump the will.

3) I would be surprised if ANY State in the U.S. of A. allowed skipping the probate process with or without a Trust. Part of the probate process is publishing a notice of the death in the local newspaper to put creditors on notice to come forward.

4) I agree with the others on the number of death certificates you will probably need. A lot more than 3. In the past, I needed one from the State of Louisiana. Looked to be like a 6-8 WEEK process after applying for the cert. Through absolute luck, persistence and talking to the right people I found one Parish Courthouse that could take the application in person, search the State vital records and print the certified copy of the death certificate while I stood at the counter. Maybe a 15 minute process. Spendy compared to waiting the several weeks, but sometimes time is money.

5) Do your homework on what needs to be done. Google is your friend in this case. Talk to friends that have gone through the process. In my instance, I wound up having a friend who used the same attorney as my families Executor and my friend told me how to handle his particular personality-----ask him a question, let him answer, then repeat the answer back to him and make sure you are on the same page. Regardless, I wouldn't expect to find ANY attorney that will simply "coach" you on how to handle the process.

6) IF you are an only child, thank your lucky stars. Otherwise, get ready to endure the real character of your loving siblings. That alone is probably the most difficult part of the process, second to grieving the loss of your parent.

[Baz]

I'm very sorry for your loss.....I cannot fathom how much that hurts.

I'm sure she knew she was loved and will now live forever in your heart.

Take care, brother....stay strong......

[ted]

Originally Posted by SCadaddle

[I]

3) I would be surprised if ANY State in the U.S. of A. allowed skipping the probate process with or without a Trust. Part of the probate process is publishing a notice of the death in the local newspaper to put creditors on notice to come forward.

Surprised as a fellow Ca. resident you would find probate acceptable?

With pre-planning and by consulting lawyers in the state that the assets are held
no one in our family has had to suffer probate.
Protect your assets get a trust now and update it occasionally.

A Will tells us the wishes of the deceased.
The Trust is the legal mechanism for making those wishes reality.
Probate will do the same after months of delays and additional legal fees.

[Ferraripete]

I am sorry for your loss. may your mother rest in peace

[SCadaddle]

Originally Posted by ted

Surprised as a fellow Ca. resident you would find probate acceptable?

With pre-planning and by consulting lawyers in the state that the assets are held
no one in our family has had to suffer probate.
Protect your assets get a trust now and update it occasionally.

A Will tells us the wishes of the deceased.
The Trust is the legal mechanism for making those wishes reality.
Probate will do the same after months of delays and additional legal fees.

I've personally experienced the "flip side" of your views on a Trust, and I have spoken about it in the past on this forum. Give me a minute.....

A Will is one thing, a Trust is a whole separate matter. In my families instance, the Will simply designated the Executrix to handle the trust. This was the case with my 99 year old Aunt, a long time widow with no children. I, along with her 2 brothers of age 89 and 91 cold called the long time "lady at the bank" one day after the probate period and asked her if my Aunt even had a will. She said she did not know. I said to my dad and uncle that if she did have a will that it would probably be recorded at the County Courthouse. The banker lady' eyes took a very different look. 30 minutes later at the Courthouse I had a copy of the Will. And the lady we just cold called....she was named as the Executrix of the Trust in the Will. Even had her signature. At death, the estate became the trust. And the bank and the banks lawyer managed to abscond about a half a million dollars from a 99 year old woman where apparently none of the family were designated as beneficiaries of the Trust, and the court ruled that since the family, being brothers and next of kin, that filed the lawsuit against the bank were not named beneficiaries, they had no recourse on finding out how the money in the Trust was paid out. My Aunt was a very secretive lady. She was sold on the whole idea that the Trust would be secretive to the probate of her estate process. I was more than certain her church was a beneficiary to the Trust. I asked her Preacher for info. He took it up with the Elders. They decided that since my Aunt was "so secretive in life, it was their intent to have her remain secretive in death". In the end, the bank sold her 18k worth of jewelry through an on-line auction. So much for being secretive.
It's a very long story. I went to the States Attorney General' Vulnerable Adults unit with no resolve and I even went and sat down with the FBI to no resolve. The latter spent what, 42 years and 5 million dollars to try and figure out how DB Cooper made off with half as much money?
So the moral of the story is IF you go with a Trust, leave $10 to a friend named as a beneficiary to make sure everything went down on the up and up. There's a reason the local community based non profit charitable organizations print brochures and leave them on the coffee tables in the communal areas of nursing homes. And when you find the one brochure and do a little investigating to find that the banks lawyer and a member of the banks Trust department are on the Board of Directors of said charitable organization you start to smell the rats.


Last edited by SCadaddle; 09-29-2016 at 12:46 AM..

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by SCadaddle

"With that judges order called some weird legal term that I don't remember, the banks would talk to me. Before that they acknowledged I was the executor, and that dad did indeed have an account and even a safety depot box. They would tell me nothing of what was in the accounts or even the number of the safety deposit box. With the judges order, or that funny named document, I was golden."

That would probably be the document known as "Letters of Testamentary".

Clip

6) IF you are an only child, thank your lucky stars. Otherwise, get ready to endure the real character of your loving siblings. That alone is probably the most difficult part of the process, second to grieving the loss of your parent.

Yea, that was it!

My brother was the only other sibling, and he was totally cool, and let me run everything and trusted me 100% for good reason. No shenanigans of any sort, and dad's wishes were carried out. My brother lives in another state 900 miles away.

[ted]

Originally Posted by SCadaddle

I've personally experienced the "flip side" of your views on a Trust, and I have spoken about it in the past on this forum. Give me a minute.....

interesting, thank you for sharing.
Estate planning can be a minefield of problems.

For example.
Someone gets a trust but forgets to put their biggest asset the house in the trust.

Or typical with no trust...
In Probate the house belonging to the deceased is held up for months in limbo...
you continue to make the house payments but you can not rent out the house while waiting for the results of Probate.

[cantdrv55]

Thank you everyone. Mom was very special indeed. She was extremely organized and had binders for everything to help me and brothers go through my parent's affairs. Still daunting the amount of detail i have to wade through.

My parents have an irrevocable living trust and I am the trustee. My step dad has kids who may be trying to get a piece of the action now that my mom is gone but the trust specifically leaves them out. My parents were together for 45 years.

[WPOZZZ]

Originally Posted by cantdrv55

Thank you everyone. Mom was very special indeed. She was extremely organized and had binders for everything to help me and brothers go through my parent's affairs. Still daunting the amount of detail i have to wade through.

My parents have an irrevocable living trust and I am the trustee. My step dad has kids who may be trying to get a piece of the action now that my mom is gone but the trust specifically leaves them out. My parents were together for 45 years.

Definitely a case to have a good attorney!

Also, your attorney will need to file the estate tax return. IIRC, you will have 9 months to do that.

[MRM]

Property held in trust does not pass through probate. That痴 the point of having a trust.