Michigan Trusts Legal Questions

You will need a skilled probate/estate/trusts lawyer If you are the beneficiary of a trust, you can, if you believe you are being defrauded, demand an accounting. Note, while you may in mentioned in the trust, it does not necessarily mean that the trust wasn't created to exclude you.   Good luck to you.... Read More

As the Trustee, you should file a Notice to Creditors in the local newspaper to begin the creditor claims period.  This essentially creates a deadline for creditors to file their claim.  It is also generally accepted in the legal industry that you have a moral obligation to use the trust assets to pay for his expenses. That being said, you can certainly make every effort to negotiate and pay less.  ... Read More

Under Michigan law, a Trustee is required to provide notice to all of the trust beneficiaries within 63 days of them accepting their responsibilities.  That notice ideally would include an initial inventory of assets and a description of what your beneficial interest is.  For instance, do you receive certain property or a % of all of the trust assets. If you are being provided a check and being asked to accept it as a distribution without anymore information, I would hesitate to do that without consulting with an attorney and providing more information. I hope this is helpful!... Read More

Hello.  As a beneficiary of a Trust, you are entitled to certain information as required by Michigan law.  The Trustee of the Trust is required to notify you within 63 days of their appointment that you are a beneficiary, provide a description of what your beneficial interest is, and should provide an inventory of all of the assets.   Generally, you should also be entitled to receive regular accountings and/or reasonably request them.... Read More

this situation is a total mess. you need to investigate everything. if there was an estate opened, you need to ask the estate attorney. if there is no estate attorney, hire an attorney to reconstruct everything to see what your father owned on the date he died, did he have a will, where is it and who is entitled to inherit what from the estate. ... Read More

Generally speaking Life Insurance proceeds are not part of the Probate Estate and pass directly to the named beneficiary. Therefore they are not required to be to used to pay for Estate expenses, including funeral expenses, unless there is not enough money in the Estate to pay those expenses.... Read More

Without reviewing the Trust document I can not say what your rights are. But if the stamp collection is part of the Trust it would be highly unusual for either you or your sister to be able to sell it without the Trustee's permission. But, even if you could do so, it is a truly terrible idea on many levels: once you have given your rights to the stamp collection to your sister, and have acknowledged that it was a gift, she is under no obligation to give you any portion of the proceeds when she sells it. In addition, by making a gift of your interest, which appears to be in excess of $200,000.00 you potentially incur gift tax liability, then assuming your sister does give you 50% of the proceeds when she sellls the collection, she also incurs potential gift tax liability. There are many other good reasons not to proceed with this plan as well.... Read More

Deeds are public records. You can obtain a copy of the deed (assuming it was properly filed) from the Register of Deeds of the County the land is in. There is a nominal charge for the copy but it is fairly easy to do. If you are correct and both names are on the deed she cannot sell the property without your signature. However, depending on how the property is deeded, she may be able to sell her interest in it.... Read More

Adding someone to a bank account usually means they become a joint owner.  You need to look at the contract between the bank and the depositors to know for sure. If a joint ownership was created, the account generally becomes the surviving owners at the passing of one of them.  This is called joint ownership with the right of survivorship.  Once again, you have to look at the contract with the bank.  If the account is yours, you are free to do anything you want to with the funds.  But, each state has its own laws on inheritance or estate taxes.  I suggest you speak to a local lawyer or, perhaps, call the county courthouse and ask them if such a tax might be due.  It seems unlilkely that any federal estate tax would be due since the exemption is $5,000,000.  I hope this helps you.... Read More

Your sister does not have to do anything as far as passing assets during her lifetime.  If she chooses, she can die intestate, which mean without a will.  If this is the case, her husband is entitled to all joint property and a certain amount of her estate under EPIC (the Michigan estate code). Also, if she is signing papers that were drafted by an attorney, more often than not witnesses will be needed.  A holographic will is an unwitnessed document drafted by your sister outlining her wishes and will be considered by the Probate Court when distributing her estate. ... Read More

The situation, as you describe, does not entitle you to any of the insurance proceeds upon your husband's death.  The proceeds will be distributed, income-tax free, to his children. The trust situation you describe needs to be more fully addressed before a complete answer can be given.  However, it seems that you will receive a monthly income based on your husband's trust assets upon his death.  The trust will pay income tax on the income of the assets and you will be responsible for taxes on any income in your name (not the trust's).... Read More