North Carolina Estate Planning Legal Questions

Why do you keep mentioning 7 - figures as if this is relevant? If you are the trustee you are the trustee whether you have a trust of 2 cents or 2 million. However, if you have a trust over a million then you can afford to hire an estate/probate/trust lawyer to assist you with the necessary paperwork (accountings) and to have the money managed properly for the trust beneficiaries as well as other professionals (CPAs, money managers, etc.). The trust document should indicate what law governs the administration of the trust. It will not matter where the beneficiary or you live - what matters is the law governing the trust. If the beneficiary lives out of the country and the trust is in the US there may taxes that the beneficiary will pay from any disbursements in his/her country. Trusts are taxed by the state where the trust is located and the federal government. You would need to consult a tax professional about taxes if the lawyer is not a CPA or tax attorney. Many lawyers who handle large estates/trusts are qualified to give tax advice (I am not) or else they practice in a large firm that has such professionals on staff. Others are not and would require you to get a CPA. Avoid places like H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt. You have a complicated situation and you should go to a competent CPA familiar with all estate/trust taxes. Any fees for this advice or legal advice will be paid by the trust as a trust expense. If the trust is in trust is in Great Britain then you will need a solicitor who is familiar with and licensed to practice law in that country (England, Wales or Scotland). As a trustee you are bound (in the US at least) by what is called the "prudent man" or "prudent investor" rule. You are obligated to invest the money in the types of reasonably safe securities/banks/investment vehicles/assets that a reasonably prudent person would. Great Britain may have a similar requirement, but you would confirm that with the solicitor. That does not mean you stick the money in a money market account where you are earning zilch. However, it may entail you going to a company that is reputable and having the company manage the money for you. The company would allocate the money in to stocks and bonds which have a higher rate of return. Again, this would be a trust expense and if you have a 7-figure trust to administer then the trust can well afford to incur this expense to have the property managed correctly.... Read More

No. Not unless the judgments are satisfied. They can be satisfied out of any equity in the home. Or you can try to resolve the judgments before you sell. Once resolved, the judgment creditor will mark the judgment as satisfied. Judgments, once entered, attach to all real property that you own. Where were the judgments entered? I do not understand the connection between having judgments, not being able to sell property and foreclosure. Was there no equity in the property and were you selling it for what it was worth (breaking even) or doing a short sale? In that case the judgment creditors would not release the liens. The judgments are liens on your other property though. You mention your other property is paid for. What is it worth? How much debt do you have? Is it worthwhile for you to file bankruptcy? Or, with enough time, would you be able to resolve these judgments by way of settlement? These are things you need to think about.... Read More

What is "it"? Obviously its some kind of document. What kind of document is it? A will? Wills should never contain burial/funeral instructions. I provide my clients with a document memorializing their final wishes. The document covers topics such as cremation or burial. I would be happy to send it to you free of charge if you contact me. The document need not be notarized. Its legal without that. The problem is that all you can do is express your wishes. Once you are deceased, there are no guarantees that your wishes will be followed. I suggest that the document be kept with your will and that you give copies to your loved ones who would be most likely to be making your final arrangements and make sure that they are aware of your desires and that they will honor your wishes. Nothing would be worse than you wanting a cremation and having your family not know your wishes and give you a burial or make some other disposition.... Read More

It depends on whether you have a valid common law marriage or not. You do not indicate in which state where you live. NC and GA does not recognize common law marriage. PA did recognize it up until 2005. They have since abolished it. You indicate that you were "married" in 1990. In the states where common law marriage is or was recognized, each state has different requirements for whether a valid common law marriage exists. Each case is fact specific and must be compared to the facts in the decisions which have held what is or what is not enough. So you would have to consult a family law attorney who practices in the county/state where you reside to ascertain whether a valid common law marriage exists. If the marriage occurred in a different state in which you now live, then you need to talk to a lawyer who practices in the state where the marriage occurred. If a valid common law marriage exists then the Social Security Administration would recognize this.... Read More

The lack of a will is not a problem in terms of probating an estate. Did your brother live in NC? It does not matter where you live but where your deceased brother lived at the time of his death as that is where any estate will be probated. Different states have differing probate laws and if the estate will be probated elsewhere then you need to contact a probate law attorney who practices in the county/state where the estate will be probated. In answering your question I have assumed that the estate will be probated in NC. You will fill out letters of administration. You do not indicate what your brother owned besides a little money in the bank. If the estate is very small (under $10,000), you may be able to use the simplified procedure for estates (the affidavit of collection). This would allow you to get the money out of the bank. You would then put it into the estate account. You would have to pay any funeral or other expenses from the estate (claims of creditors or administrative expenses). The alleged daughter will have to be given notice of the probate but it will be up to her to prove paternity. If paternity is not established then your brother will be deemed to have died childless unless there were any other children and/or a spouse. The order of preference for intestate heirs is any spouse, children or lineal descendants (grandchildren). If none (I am assuming from your post that your brother was not married at the time of his death and that he had no children other than this alleged daughter) then your brother's assets would pass to your parents. If both are dead, then to the sisters and brothers of your deceased brother. You indicate that another brother has died previously and that he left a daughter who cannot be located. You will have to hire a missing heir service or private detective. Very few individuals truly cannot be found. If she truly has disappeared then her share of your brother's estate (this would be equal to the share of her father) gets held in trust and is paid to the clerk of court to hold in trust for her.... Read More

Your post is not very clear. How was the home titled? If your husband and his former wife owned real property together as husband and wife, then on the death of the wife it would automatically pass to the husband. It would not be in probate. If they owned property as husband and wife but then divorced, the divorce would sever the husband wife relationship and they would then own the land as tenants in common. What this means is that 1/2 of the property would be owned by your husband and 1/2 by the former wife. If the former wife died, the wife's share of the land would pass to the wife's heirs under the intestacy law if she had no will. The intestate heirs are any spouse (assuming the wife re-married and was living with her new husband at the time of her death) and the wife's children. Having people own property jointly like this is very bad. Someone should buy out the share of the other. If the land was solely in the wife's name and if there is no will, then how is it possible for your husband to inherit the land at all? He is not an heir of his former wife unless he was married to her at the time of her death. In such case, he would only get a 1/3 interest in the land or possibly the right to live in the property. So how is it that he inherited it? When spouses divorce, property is classified into groups - separate, marital and divisible. Marital is anything acquired while your husband is married to you. Separate property is anything that your husband owned in his own name prior to his marriage to you or property acquired by him by gift or inheritance. If your husband owned the land prior to marriage to you, its separate. If he acquired the land by inheritance its separate. Either way, you have no claim to it unless your husband commingled it with marital assets. He could do this by refinancing the house or putting your name on the deed. What I suggest that you do is, if you are considering divorce, gather information about ALL of the assets, regardless of whether they are marital or separate and discuss this with a family law attorney to see how the assets would be treated in equitable distribution. And let your husband's experience with his first wife serve as a lesson - you need a will, especially if you are considering getting a divorce.... Read More

Any attorney would need to see the entire will and would have to know what state this is being probated in. However, assuming this is NC, then here is what I think would happen: Father died with a will, but the will contained a survivorship requirement such that mother would have to survive by 90 days. Since mother did not meet this requirement, mother is treated as having pre-deceased father such that mother's share of father's assets will pass to father's alternate beneficiary, i.e., his son or anyone else named as a contingent beneficiary in the father's will. Your post also indicates that the executor died. I assume that the mother was the executor and that you are referring to her. However, life insurance proceeds are a non-probate asset. Which means they do not pass via probate and are not subject to any 90-day survivorship requirement. I would need to see the beneficiary form, but my guess is that the life insurance proceeds would be payable to mother's estate and distributed as per her will or the intestacy laws. Possibly the assets would pass to a contingent beneficiary if named. It would only be in the event that mother actually died before father would the insurance benefits go to father's estate.... Read More

How is it possible for your sister to spend benefits? Did your mother have a debit card? Did your sister know the PIN number and use it? Or did your sister write checks and sign your mother's name? Your sister has engaged in criminal conduct. Since nobody has a POA, if your mother is not mentally competent someone has to start guardianship proceedings immediately. Someone should notify the bank to see if they will freeze your mother's account or prevent your sister from accessing it. If necessary get the debit card shut down and/or get things moved to a new checking account. If a new account is established, SS will have to be notified to change the routing number. The problem is that if your mother is not mentally competent then the bank may not be willing to act on your say so alone. In that case you may have to get a temporary emergency guardianship order from the court. Your mother or her guardian will then have to contact the district attorney and have your sister prosecuted unless the funds are restored ASAP. Once criminal charges are initiated, your sister can only pay back the money as part of criminal restitution or some kind of plea deal. So she either does it now voluntarily or she has to deal with the criminal justice system and a conviction.... Read More

If you win a will caveat then that means that the will is tossed out and is invalid. that does not revive any prior wills necessarily. rather, it means that your father will have been deemed to have died without a will. If this was in NC, then everything would pass to you and your sister assuming that your father did not have a wife at the time of his death. You indicate that the guy took your father's boat and auto. He must give those things back to the estate as they are not his unless your father gave him those things prior to his death. I have a hard time believing that this guy would want the hassle of administering the estate if it means that he is not going to get anything out of it. Did the judge's order include a directive that the guy resign or be removed as personal representative? If not then you would have to seek to have him removed by filing a petition with the clerk unless he voluntarily will step down. If he steps down or is removed, then you can be appointed as the successor personal representative. That still does not mean that you and your sister get your father's stuff. Before the heirs can inherit anything all claims/debts have to be paid. First thing is for the executor to take an inventory of everything that your father owned. Creditors have to be given personal notice and a notice must also be run in the newspaper. You indicate that your father was on dialysis he is going to have medical debts unless he had insurance. When all the claims come in then you can pay the bills. After paying the bills, you will submit a final accounting to the court. Once confirmed, you and your sister can split the remaining assets. This is just a nutshell version - you would do well to consult a probate attorney who practices in the county where the estate is pending.... Read More

I answered a very similar question on another site. The answer is that you need to speak to a TN law probate attorney regarding this. If you are still legally married, many states have what is called the doctrine of necessaries. This means that spouses are liable for each other's medical debts.... Read More

Who would be an "interested party" and not the executor? The executor cannot keep living in the house and use the decedent's funds for the executor's personal living expenses. This is only possible if you allow it to happen. If there is a named executor it means that there must be a will. When did the deceased pass away? Is there an estate probated? If not, then you need to immediately go and see a probate litigation attorney who practices in the county/state where the estate would be pending. It sounds like the executor is violating his duties by not administering the estate correctly. If that is the case then he can be removed and you can be appointed as the substitute execugtor.... Read More

If your mother signed and notarized the title already, then you should be able to go to the NC DMV and fill out a new title application (MV1). You will need proof of insurance so get this in place before you go to the DMV. The forms are all available at the NC DMV website - http://www.ncdot.gov/dmv/ Bring in the old license plate to the vehicle just in case you need to get a new one. If the old plates were not turned in then their may be fees/taxes owed on the old plate. I don't know why the signature would be invalid, but assuming the car is somehow still part of your mother's estate, the personal representative of the estate would also be able to release the title to you and sign off. This assumes that your mother had a probate estate and that its been handled and debts are being paid. If there is enough assets in the estate then the car can go to you. If there are not enough assets in the estate it would depend maybe - if you can show that this was a completed gift, I think you can take the car free of any creditor's claims. If it was not a completed gift, then creditor's have to be paid first and in such case the car would be sold to you by the administrator and the money put into the estate and used to pay estate expenses. Either way, the personal rep. could sign off and you would again take the title and proof of insurance to the dmv and get the title re-recorded in your name.... Read More

Adoption cuts off the right of inheritance by and through the natural/biological parents. The adoptee instead inherits from his new adopted family, including adopting parents and grandparents unless someone makes a will and specifically disinherits the adopted child. Where did your biological grandfather live at the time of his death? When did he die? Did he have a will? If he made a valid will and voluntarily chose to include you, then you could still inherit because you are a named beneficiary. If he had no will, then his children (assuming he had no surviving spouse) would inherit. If he had a will leaving his property to his children they would also inherit. In either case, if one or more of those children predeceased him, then the share of the deceased child would pass to the children of the deceased child. Because you were adopted out, that means that you are no longer a child of your biological parent. Instead, your biological parent's share would pass to any siblings of yours who were not adopted or if there is no siblings, then to any other surviving children of your grandfather. If your grandfather did not live in North Carolina at the time of his death, I suggest that you confirm with an adoption or probate attorney to find out the laws in the state where your grandfather resided.... Read More

You need help from a Georgia probate attorney who practices in the county in Georgia in which your son's father resided prior to his death. Is your son legitimate or illegitimate? In other words, were you married to this man at the time your son was born? It matters. Georgia has a rule that an illegitimate child cannot inherit from his father unless the child is legitimated or paternity is established. Just paying child support may not be enough although if child support was court ordered then paternity should have been established. If not then there are strict time limits for asserting and proving paternity. Once paternity is established (or else is not an issue), then the next question is whether the man had a will. A person can disinherit his children so if he had a valid will disinheriting your son, then your son would not get anything. Most people do not have a will. So your son would stand to inherit under the state's intestacy laws. But your son's share would depend on what the man owned and how it was titled. You also indicate that he was married at the time of his death. Does the man have any other children either with you or with the current wife or with someone else? If there is only your son, then the current wife and your son would split the probate assets 50-50. If there are any other children, then the current wife gets 1/3rd, and your son and any other children get 2/3rd. The other question is what probate assets does the man have? Intestacy laws or wills only govern probate assets. Many assets are non-probate - examples are jointly owned real estate with right of survivorship, joint bank accounts, IRAs/401(k)s, life insurance, annuities or other beneficiary-designated asset. If the man was married and had little or no probate assets then your son would not get anything or very little. If there is no will and no probate, then probate can be brought by you or anyone else if necessary. I would get a probate attorney quickly to review the court file, if any. I would also contact the recorder of deeds to see if the man owned any land and how it was titled.... Read More

If its an unfunded trust then its not a valid trust. So let's back up here. Your father died in 2009 with a will that created a testamentary trust. If that is the case, what was to fund the testamentary trust? Money? Land? What did your father own at the time of his death and how was it titled, if it was land or vehicles or bank accounts? Who was the trustee of this trust? If your father had little or no probate assets or a means by which the testamentary trust could be funded, then this language is meaningless. Your stepmother would receive whatever assets she received following the death of your father and she could do what she wanted with those assets. You have no right to inherit from her and filing objections in her estate would not be proper. When someone dies without a will, it is called "intestate" (Latin for no will). In such case, your stepmother's assets would pass under the intestacy laws. I assume that her estate is in NC. If she had no surviving spouse and no children or lineal descendants, then under the intestacy law, her assets would pass to her siblings. If she only was survived by a brother then he would get everything. If he wanted to leave you something that was his choice, but he would need to make a will to do that. It does not matter that the judge was acquainted with your step-mother. That does not necessarily preclude the judge from administering the estate. You are fighting a very difficult battle and it is one which you are going to lose unless you get legal counsel. Judge's do not like pro se litigants because pro se litigants file frivolous papers and have no idea what they are doing. If you are going to represent yourself, you are going to be held to the same standard as an attorney and you will be expected to follow the rules and timely present motions or else your request will be denied. The judge is there to act like a referee in a football game - to make sure both sides follow the rules. The judge is not there to be your legal counsel and raise issues in your defense. If you want the judge recused, you would have to file a motion to recuse the judge. In the motion you have to set forth the grounds for recusal. You have to file the motion with the court and serve a copy on opposing counsel (it would be the executor of your father's estate if his estate is still pending) as well as the judge. And you would have to confer with the estate counsel or the personal representative and the trial court administrator and get your motion heard. You are barking up the wrong tree. Your focus should not be on filing frivolous motions. Your first task really ought to be to consult a probate litigation attorney who practices in the county where your father's estate is pending. Make a copy of the entire estate file as well as the will which created this testamentary trust. The file should also include the inventory of assets and any proposed accounting. The attorney needs to review these documents to see if the testamentary trust should have been funded. If there were insufficient probate assets, then that will be the end of the matter. If there are sufficient probate assets, then the designated beneficiaries under your father's will would receive his assets. In your case, one of the beneficiaries will be this trust. Funds would then be turned over to the trustee to hold and disburse as per the trust terms. Filing an objection does not seem proper unless you are objecting to the proposed distribution of assets from your father's estate. The probate attorney will have to review the inventory and accounting to know if the distribution is proper or not. If there are some assets in the estate but not enough to pay all the beneficiaries, there is a certain order in which beneficiaries get assets. Since I have not seen the trust and other documents. I don't know how the trust to you is classified. However, if the trust was to be funded by the residue of the estate and there is no resi... Read More

What? Children are not commodities to be bought and sold. Bills of sale have nothing to do with adoption and parental rights. This is not even like comparing apples to oranges (both are fruits) - they have absolutely nothing to do with one another. If parental rights were terminated (either voluntarily or involuntarily), the child no longer has any rights of inheritance from the biological parent. Instead, the child would look to the adopting parent and be treated as if the child were a natural/biological child of the adopting parent. However, there must be an order terminating parental rights. This may have been done with a piece of paper in 1963 but it is not a legal adoption in my view (although I have not seen the document). The exception would be if the biological parent makes a will leaving an inheritance to the biological child by name. If the biological parent died without a will then the adopted child has no rights to inherit. If the adopting parent dies without a will, then the adopted child and any other adopted or biological children of the adopting parent will inherit a share of the probate assets. However, since your post seems to suggest that some bogus document was passed between the biological and adopting parent, I will have to assume that no valid court order of adoption was ever entered. In that case, I supposed the child has a decision to make - depending on how the child will make out. If there was no valid adoption, then the biological child would still retain a right to inherit from the biological parent and would be entitled to a share of the biological parent's estate unless the biological parent made a will which expressly disinherited that child. However, the biological child would not have a right to inherit from the adopted parent. If the child does not want to inherit from the biological parent but wants to inherit from the adopted parent instead, then the adopted child would have to prove that their was an equitable adoption. Basically, the child would have to show that the adopted parent intended to adopt but just never got around to finalizing the adoption papers. Perhaps the document along with other evidence will provide an indication as to whether the adoptive parent intended to adopt the child.... Read More

You need to probate the estate as called for in the will. The lawyer who drew up the will is not responsible for probating it unless you hired/him or her. The lawyer may or may not know that the client is debt but the responsibility is the executor's. You indicate that you live in Atlanta but your location is not relevant. Where did your aunt live at the time of her death? Was it in GA? If so, in what county? Or where did she own land? Either her county of residence or the county where she owned land is where you need to probate her estate. You need to get a lawyer to help you, especially if you live out of state. I would contact a probate lawyer who practices in the county/state where the estate is to be probated as procedures may differ from county to county and you want someone who is familiar with the practices followed by the clerk and court in the county where the estate will be probated. They are not letters of testimony but letters testamentary. When the will is submitted for probate the executor submits an application to administer the estate. If the application is granted, then the court issues the letters testamentary which are a formal document appointing you officially as the executor. The executor's job is to inventory the assets, notify any creditors to file claims, pay the claims (if any) and then distribute what is left to the heirs. If there is enough money in the estate to pay the claims, then I suppose the real property could be turned over to the heirs but this may be problematic if there are more than 2 heirs. Its never a good idea for lots of people to own land Or the executor could sell it to one or more of the heirs who want it. But in no way can the executor just give it to them. The car is part of your aunt's estate for right now. You need to see if there is any kind of survivorship requirement in your aunt's will. For example, I include a 90-day survivorship clause in wills that I draft for clients. If the named heir does not survive your aunt by the time period specified in the will, the property would pass as per your aunt's will to any alternate beneficiary she names or as per the residue clause (if there is one) or via state intestacy law if there is no alternate beneficiary and no residue clause. Otherwise, the car will be distributed to the estate of the deceased heir for distribution as per the deceased heir's will or via state intestacy law. If the heir had no will as you indicate, where did the heir live at the time of her death? Was she married? Did she have children? However, you first have to inventory and value assets and pay any just debts of creditors before you start giving away property. Compensation is governed by the will if it addresses this issue. If it doesn't, then it is determined as per the statute below. It will depend on the kind and amount of any property in the estate. Please at least get a consult with a probate attorney so that you can make sure the estate is administered fairly as per the terms of the will and correctly. ? 53-6-60. Amount of Compensation (a) Personal representatives shall be compensated as specified in either the will or any written agreement entered into prior to the decedent's death or a written agreement signed by all the beneficiaries of a testate estate or all the heirs of an intestate estate. A written agreement between a testator and a personal representative shall be valid and binding upon the estate of the testator as fully and completely as if set forth in and made a part of the will.(b) If the personal representative's compensation is not specified in the will or any separate written agreement, the personal representative for services rendered shall be entitled to compensation equal to: (1) Two and one-half percent commission on all sums of money received by the personal representative on account of the estate, except on money loaned by and repaid to the personal representative, and 2 1/2 percent commission on ... Read More

Notarization does not make a will more or less legal. What notarization does is make a will "self-proving" meaning that the witnesses do not have to prove the signatures by signing an affidavit. To be valid in North Carolina, a will that is typed or printed MUST be witnessed by two individuals who are not beneficiaries under the will and signed by the testator. To be self-proving it would have to be notarized but that does not affect a will's validity. It is better if everyone signs in front of each other and the notary. While a will can be signed in NC and notarized and later witnessed and notarized, not all states allow this. Georgia, for example, requires everyone to sign in front of each other. I think that it is better practice to do it this way (i.e. have everyone sign in front of each other and the notary; I also think it is better to have a third-witness) because any will is valid just about everywhere. If a will is hand-written entirely in the handwriting of the testator AND found among the testator's important papers, then it only needs to be signed and does not have to be witnessed. If you have a typed/printed will that is signed but not witnessed (the notarization does not count) then the will is not valid. If a will was later witnessed, it has to be re-acknowledged by the testator and re-signed and dated and should be re-notarized. This is a mess. If the person who made the will is deceased, your best bet would be to have the will looked at by a probate attorney who can actually look at the will and determine whether it is valid. If you cannot afford a consult, then show the will to the clerk of the probate court and see if they will accept it. It may or may not make a difference depending on what probate assets were owned and who would be the beneficiary versus the heirs under the intestacy statutes. If there is substantial assets involved and if the heirs under the intestacy law would stand to benefit under the intestacy law but not under the will then you are going to be looking at a will caveat by the disgruntled heir. This is yet another example of why a person should not try to save a few bucks and make their own will and create an invalid document and then try to save it by making more of a mess. For a relatively small sum, a potentially expensive lawsuit could be easily be avoided by having a will done by a lawyer and done right.... Read More

What is this? What exactly are you trying to accomplish? If you are trying to do an enhanced life estate or "Lady Bird" deed, those are only recognized in Texas and a handful of other states. To my knowledge, they are not valid in Georgia and before you create something that your heirs will live to regret, I suggest that you run your proposed deed by a real estate attorney or possibly a probate attorney. Why not do a real deed and convey the property to yourself as life tenant with the remainder to your heir if t hat is what you intend to do? The drawback is that once you give away the property like this you cannot sell it or get it back if you change your mind without the consent of the remainderman. In the alternative, don't do "poor man's" estate planning by relying of deeds for the disposition of your property. If you are concerned, then do a proper will or trust and convey the property in that. Wills done by an attorney are not all that expensive. Without knowing what you really are trying to do and without seeing the documents, I cannot comment any further.... Read More

I answered this question previously. Your daughters need to see a probate law attorney in the Kinston area to compel the production of the will. If the sister's name is on the cd then the cd is at least part hers. As I previously indicated, I would need to see the cd to know how its payable, but if the cd is payable to your wife and her sister upon mother's death, then at least 50% of the cd goes to your wife's estate.... Read More

A will is never "required." However, it is a good idea to have one regardless of what assets are owned. However, your post is confusing and seems to suggest that there is a will which was never submitted for probate. Further, there is more than just land involved because there was a cd. Power of attorney ends at death so the power of attorney is irrelevant. If the sister-in-law is out of state then she needs to probate an estate in NC if there are assets justifying probate. Wills need to be filed even if probate is not justified. You or any other beneficiary/creditor could compel your sister-in-law to produce the will and file it if it is in her possession. And you are not quite correct. A non-resident executor can appoint a resident agent in North Carolina or else renounce their right and let someone in NC handle this (like you if you reside here). There are attorneys or others who will agree to be the agent for service of process purposes. Were all debts/claims of the estate paid? How was the land titled? What is it worth? What about the cd Assuming that the land was titled in the mother-in-law's name solely when she died, then the land would pass to your wife and her sister in equal shares. Since your wife died, your wife's 50% would pass to her estate and would be distributed as per your wife's will or via the intestacy laws. Same with the cd if it was payable to your wife and her sister equally. If the land was owned by your mother-in-law and her daughters as a joint tenancy with right of survivorship, then your sister-in-law would solely own the land. Regarding the cd, you need to see how it was payable, but your wife should have been entitled to 50% if she was a named beneficiary. If the cd had a transfer/pay on death designation and if the sister-in-law only was named as the designee then she would own this solely. And if the cd was made payable to both your wife and the sister-in-law, then it goes to both of them, not just your wife. If the sister in law wants to gift her half to your wife's estate or renounce that is different (renunciations have to be made within 9 months of death and your sister in law is running out if time if she needs to do that). There are 2 issues here - one is the estate for your mother-in-law and one for your wife. Both of these need reviewed by a probate attorney who practices in the county where each woman lived at the time of her death.... Read More