Quote:
Originally Posted by john70t
I'd WAG that it has something to do with any outstanding debt. Only a guess..
A Trust is theoretically isolated and set aside from from daily transactions, being held longer term and untouched in many cases, but Personal Assets outside that might be liable to unpaid loans or court orders for payment or that stack of parking tickets or something else. If there are other personal claims against [deceased]someone's estate that should be a personal matter tho. Not sure why the Court would be involved in that, other than avoiding more court cases.
The Trust or it's distributions to recipients might still be held liable for claw-back in more extreme cases (epstein comes to mind) but that's where it probably gets murky in terms of State laws and jurisdiction etc. Modifying a Trust or using it as a piggy bank might also be grounds to nullify it. I'm sure it gets complicated. In Law, almost everything that can possibly go wrong has already been handled before.
|
An attorney pointed out to me that the estate, and more specifically the executors, are responsible for any claims by creditors for 12 months after death.
In my case, there's a Trust AND a Will that stipulates all residuary transfers to the Trust upon death. The Trust is responsible for the bills of the Grantor and the Grantor's estate. Seems pretty simple! But... it's not. It makes no sense to me why, when the Will is clear, and the Trust is responsible for any and all bills of the Grantor, a court has to be involved. It seems overly complicated where both documents provide clear intent.
The problem for me is that a car didn't T.O.D to the trust so now we go through probate since there's no surviving spouse and the value of the vehicle is above the "small estate" limit that could otherwise expedite probate.