Trusts Legal Questions

If you have a life estate in the home, then most likely after your death the trust transfers the home to someone else.  If so, then the trust does not terminate until after you die.  Take a look at the terms of the trust to verify.  Contact an attorney in your area for a full consultation.... Read More

Even without known IRS issues, a prudent trustee often waits a year for full distribution of trust assets, to be sure there is money in case one last tax return has to be filed, or an unknown creditor files a claim. The trustee has the option to make a partial distribution to all heirs in the meantime, but does not have to.... Read More

You also asked this question on Avvo, where it has been answered. You are correct in thinking that tax returns will not be required in the future if there is no money. A trust only has to file an income tax return if it has income of $600 or more. With no money, the trust will not be earning interest.... Read More

Has anyone filed to probate the will? If the home is titled to a trust, then the trustee has the authority to give you notice. Otherwise, if the home is not in a trust and probate is required, no one has authority to give you notice to vacate unless and until they have received Letters from the court appointing them as executor. To receive those, they had to file a petition with the court, and they would have been required to send you a copy of that petition along with a copy of the will. Check with the court to see whether there is a probate for your father's estate. If there is, it will list the attorney. ... Read More

Once there's no money in the trust, only the house, it makes sense that you are responsible for costs the trust must incur to keep the home in the trust. How else would those costs be paid? But the trust only has to file income taxes if it has income of $600 or more. It sounds like the trust has only expenses (which you are paying), not income. So I'm not clear why your brother feels he has to file taxes. If he had to file taxes for administering the trust after your mother's death, up till the distributions, those expenses should have come out of the trust BEFORE the bank accounts were distributed. If he didn't do that, he should request funds from ALL beneficiaries to repay him for that expense.... Read More

You will need to find an attorney in Texas if there is real estate there in your late husband's name. A Georgia attorney won't be able to help you, because the real estate is controlled by Texas law. If your late husband had a Will, it may need to be offered for an ancillary probate in Texas; if he didn't have a Will, then you may need to do an administration in Texas. Or, depending on Texas law, you may just need to deal with the real estate using the Letters Testamentary (if he had a Will) or Letters of Administration (if he didn't have a Will) issued by the probate court in Georgia (I assume he was a Georgia resident at his death). You will not be likely to find an attorney who will take a probate matter on a contingency basis. However, you can certainly ask any attorney that you contact about alternative fee structures or payment plans. In my firm, all work on probate matters like what you describe is hourly for actual time spent, plus full reimbursement of all costs incurred, and with a retainer (usually $4,000 or more) paid up front to the firm, with billed fees drawn from the retainer as they are generated each month. Best wishes to you.... Read More

Did the decedent have a will that left items to your daughter?  In the absence of a will, your daughter would certainly be a beneficiary to some portion of his estate after payment of bills and administrative fees.  Has someone initiated a probate proceeding in the county where the decedent died?  If your daughter is under age 18, a guardian must be appointed by the court to hold any money she receives from estate until she reaches age 18.  That money can be used for her benefit before 18. ... Read More

I need just a little more information.  What day did your son pass away?  I would say that to be able to get the policy itself, you would need an attorney knowledgeable in probate law.   I say this because you will probably need to open a probate estate to get this information.  Good Luck... Read More

  You say you are "considering a special needs trust". I don't see a lot of benefit to creating a special needs trust at this time. If you want to leave some funds for your sister in your estate plan, you should direct those to a special needs trust. Right now, you should just help her to the extent you are able and want to from your own funds.  In helping her, you need to consider the rules of SSI and Section 8.  First, you must NEVER give a check to put in her bank account. That counts as income to her. Ideally, you should also not give her cash or a prepaid debit card. If SSI were to find out, for example, if they pressured her to explain how she was managing, that would also count as income. Section 8 is the most difficult. Anything that you give to a beneficiary, and anything that you regularly pay for, counts as income and increase the share of the rent that your sister has to pay. So, for example, if you decide to pay her cable bill, you musn't pay the monthly bill each month. That could count as income to your sister and increase the rent she has to pay. What you would do is occasionally, and irregularly, pay a round amount that amounts to more than a month's bill. So, for example, in early January pay $400, and in mid-March pay $300. There are assets which are exempt. So if, for example, you bought her a used car, that wouldn't affect her SSI or Section 8. If you paid for repairs or tires for that car, that wouldn't affect her benefits. If you bought her a bus pass every single month, SSI wouldn't count it but Section 8 would consider that income. So you might do that once in a while. Medical care not paid for by Medi-Cal doesn't count. So if you wanted to pay a dental bill for her, that wouldn't affect her benefits. Thanks for being a caring sibling. I hope this points you in the right direction.  ... Read More

You aren't asking a question, so I'm not sure what to tell you. Your mother, assuming your stepfather and she were both Georgia residents at the time of his death, had the right to file for year's support. Your stepbrother, assuming he was your stepfather's legal son, has the right to try to challenge the amount that your mother is seeking to have awarded to her. All your mother can do is try to prove that she really needs everything she's requesting. It does not matter what resources your stepbrother has, what matters in a challenged year's support claim are bascially only these issues: (1) was the person seeking to get year's support the deceased person's surviving spouse (or a surviving minor child)? (2) Was the decedent a resident of the state of Georgia at the time of death? (3) Were there assets that became part of the decedent's probate estate (note: this would NOT include life insurance proceeds, IRAs, or other assets that were paid directly to a beneficiary under a beneficiary designation, and it would NOT include assets that the decedent owned with another person as joint tenants, if the other owner survived)? (4) Did the person file the year's support petition on time (within no more than 2 years from the date of the decedent's death)? (5) Had the person seeking the year's support remarried (or turned 18, if a minor child) before filing the Petition? (6) How many other resources are available to the person seeking the year's support, and is the amount being requested really needed to allow the person to be supported for a year given her other available resources? Your mother needs to hire an experienced probate litigator if her year's support petition was filed on time and is being challenged. (Please note: I am NOT a litigator). Best wishes to you and to her.... Read More