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Post by psoccer on Jan 4, 2021 4:59:24 GMT
in August, my aunt passed away due to non-Covid issues. She had no children, but has 8 nieces and nephews, me included. Her siblings, my mom included, have all passed away. I live on the West Coast, along with my brother, and the cousins all live on the East Coast where my aunt lived, and where my mom was born and raised. When my aunt died, one of my cousins wanted to be the executor. Due to Covid, travel is not happening for me, so I said fine, I will send you the will, and please contact the lawyer's office to make sure there isn't a newer version. There were a bunch of sticky notes on the will that stated my mom was to get most, and then she wanted that to go to myself and my brother and I had kept those on because I didn't want anyone surprised if my brother/myself got more than others.
I do not have much of a relationship with my cousins, just my aunt. I was out last summer (2019) to visit with her, and had planned to go out in 2020 but canceled the trip due to Covid. My aunt had mentioned that she was leaving me X amount of dollars, and I did tell her she didn't have to do that. I contacted a bank that I had received correspondence from, and confirmed there was an account that was payable on death. I had to send a death certificate and a notarized letter, and I was contacted back with the amount and the type of account. The amount is about half of her estate. Here is my question for the peas, should I just close the account, or wait until probate is over to get the money? The bank is willing to send the money to me.
I don't need the money, but I would be more comfortable if it was in a bank nearer to me. I hesitate to reach out to my cousin that is the executor, I imagine there will be hard feelings, but it was my aunt's decision.
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MerryMom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,543 
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Post by MerryMom on Jan 4, 2021 5:10:33 GMT
My understanding of a payable upon death bank account is that the money is separate from the will and bypasses probate. Contact the bank, send in the required forms, and get the transfer done.
As always, contact a lawyer to be sure.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jan 4, 2021 5:13:22 GMT
When my mom passed away, the investment accounts that had listed beneficiaries were able to be closed right away once they had the death certificate and they disbursed the funds fairly quickly, way before probate was done. Anything that was a regular bank account I think my sister had to wait until probate was finalized before those accounts could be closed.
I’m not a lawyer but I think if the bank wants to send you a check and they have everything they need to legally do so, it should be okay.
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Post by revirdsuba99 on Jan 4, 2021 5:32:08 GMT
If you are listed as pay on death, it is yours. Have the bank turn it over to you/your bank electronically or however they choose to do it.
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Post by nlwilkins on Jan 4, 2021 6:54:02 GMT
My mother (with four adult children and multiple grandchildren) had a life insurance policy when she died that was significant and I was the beneficiary. In addition she had other accounts and insurance policies that were part of her estate. But this one listed me only as the beneficiary. My sister was executor according to the will. I considered the insurance as part of the estate and not my own.
My younger brother had borrowed money from mother for his business which he always paid back, but this time his business was dissolved and he was working hard to pay off other loans stilled owed from the business. Mother had told me that the money owed from my brother was to be considered part of his inheritance, UNLESS it would hurt him financially.
There were four of us children and I decided just to ignore the brother's loan and divide the insurance money I had control over equally between us. As I told my sister, if he got less it would mean he would have to work longer and harder to become free of his debts. In my mind that meant it would hurt him financially to get less. It was consistent with how my mother felt about my younger brother.
The thing is, I communicated with the others about what I was doing. They could have insisted on getting more but agreed with my decision. I urge you to let your cousins know what you are doing. If there are hard feelings, then it is on them not you. You are following your aunt's in the matter. You even had the sticky notes to back it up. IMO there would more hard feelings if you did not let them know. They might feel you were trying be sneaky about it. They will probably find out anyway. There are surely some papers and statements about the bank account that will show up somewhere, sometime.
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Post by Basket1lady on Jan 4, 2021 11:17:38 GMT
I would contact a lawyer. Laws vary from state to state and it's hard for us non-lawyers to know what is and is not legal in another state.
When my grandmother died without a will, the estate was split between her children. My mother had died 10 years earlier and my brother and I received Mom's portion of the estate. My aunts were not happy about this, but we just referred them to our lawyer for any legal issues. That took us out of the equation and put the distribution on the law vs two young "money grubbing" grandchildren. My brother and I shared the lawyer and I believe the bill was about $200. Well worth the money to know it was all done legally.
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Post by mikklynn on Jan 4, 2021 13:49:55 GMT
My mother (with four adult children and multiple grandchildren) had a life insurance policy when she died that was significant and I was the beneficiary. In addition she had other accounts and insurance policies that were part of her estate. But this one listed me only as the beneficiary. My sister was executor according to the will. I considered the insurance as part of the estate and not my own. My younger brother had borrowed money from mother for his business which he always paid back, but this time his business was dissolved and he was working hard to pay off other loans stilled owed from the business. Mother had told me that the money owed from my brother was to be considered part of his inheritance, UNLESS it would hurt him financially. There were four of us children and I decided just to ignore the brother's loan and divide the insurance money I had control over equally between us. As I told my sister, if he got less it would mean he would have to work longer and harder to become free of his debts. In my mind that meant it would hurt him financially to get less. It was consistent with how my mother felt about my younger brother. The thing is, I communicated with the others about what I was doing. They could have insisted on getting more but agreed with my decision. I urge you to let your cousins know what you are doing. If there are hard feelings, then it is on them not you. You are following your aunt's in the matter. You even had the sticky notes to back it up. IMO there would more hard feelings if you did not let them know. They might feel you were trying be sneaky about it. They will probably find out anyway. There are surely some papers and statements about the bank account that will show up somewhere, sometime. You are a classy lady! |
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Post by Linda on Jan 4, 2021 13:52:20 GMT
accounts payable on death are not part of the probate estate so yes, that money would be yours and separate from whatever distribution the will provides for. Sticky notes will not impact the actual will - they might make your aunt's wishes clearer but to change the will, she would have needed a cordial or to write a new will.
Whether you share the information about or the money from the accounts payable on death is up to you from a legal perspective. Only you are going to know what is right for your family. And I do suggest consulting with a lawyer
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Post by Really Red on Jan 4, 2021 16:35:37 GMT
I was executor of my mom's estate and I swear to you it is a thankless task. On average, the executor gets 1% of the estate. Of course, I didn't take anything and of course, my fab siblings insisted. I ended up giving money to my mother's brother who really needed it and we all donated. My mom would have loved that. Usually family members who are executors do not take anything, but it is still a hard job. I kept my siblings informed all the time with spreadsheets and the like.
It took me months and months and MONTHS to get everything in order. We had a lawyer ($$$$ and worth every penny) and it was still complicated. Keep in mind your aunt's estate still has to pay taxes for 2020 and that hasn't happened yet.
I agree with other that sticky notes can clarify, but they won't hold up in court.
You need to ask for a regular accounting of what is going on from your cousin. You also need to make sure she gets paid for what she's doing. She can decline, but it's almost like a job and my mother's estate was in great shape. I also want to make it clear that it is VERY VERY easy to steal money from an estate. Breathtakingly easy. I would never put someone I didn't trust 100% in charge. Just like you can take money from the bank (and there is no reason you shouldn't), she can, too.
Please, please contact a lawyer. Make sure your cousin knows everything you are doing so that this doesn't come back and bite you in the butt. And maybe too late for you, but unless you are one big happy, pay someone to be the executor.
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