Trusts Legal Questions

This question is really really trust language-specific. I would need to know who the trustee is, whether it is a revocable or irrevocable trust, and what the terms are. If your grandmother is trustee and unable to speak or respond, then a guardianship can be set in place for her to run the trust which may help. If the lawyers are the duly appointed trustees, and not just the trustees agents, then it will be much harder to remove them absent showing a breach of fiduciary duty.   If you're willing to send the trust document over I can have a look. If you don't have a copy, you are entitled to one as a beneficiary of the trust. Make a request to the attorneys for one.... Read More

I would have to know who is the trustee and how is the account titled. If there is a trustee or a beneficiary on the account, then you might be able to inquire about the account.  If not, then you have to do a probate.    Contact me at sgarciavidal@garciavidallaw.com and send me your phone number.  Thanks. ... Read More

Your attorney should be able to work with you over the phone and via email. Any amendment to a will needs to be witnessed by two people who do not benefit from the will, just as the will was witnessed. So you would need to ask two friends or neighbors to be witnesses. They can watch from six feet or more away as you sign. Then you can go back into your house as each of them comes to, for example, your porch individually and signs in the witness space.... Read More

Ms. Disalvo gave you great advice.  There are problems with finding trust, just like finding life insurance policies.  Without finding evidence in your father's records, you will struggle to find a trust.  Tax returns might provide insight into your Dad's conduct and find something related to a trust in his tax records.... Read More

What you can or should do with your sister's portion of the annuity depends on how much it is. If it's a relatively small amount, you can use her portion for her benefit: buy her clothes, a new recliner, pre-pay for her funeral. If you can do that kind of a spend-down, you would only be over-resource for SSI for one-month. So you sent SSI a check for one month's benefits, and report the receipt of the inheritance and the spend-down. If it's a larger amount, you can work with an attorney to petition the court to allow you, as conservator, to establish a special needs trust to receive the annuity proceeds.... Read More

No one can give you a definite answer without seeing what you signed. In general, if all parties, including the person whose estate plan it is, and the person who is paying, have not signed the documents and no work has begun, you are probably not obligated. But again, that is a general answer without seeing what you signed.... Read More

The Ohio Attorney Directory lists him as active. His contact information is listed as follows:   6469 Heritage Park Blvd. Dayton, OH 45424  Montgomery County 4192118 You can check the status of any attorney in Ohio through the Ohio Supreme Court at https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/AttorneySearch/#/search.  ... Read More

Erik, Congratulations on having a fully-paid-for home in California (truly a major accomplishment in itself). To obtain a reverse mortgage, you'll need to provide information about the property, how it's held, and by who. To begin the process, your wife's trust and related estate planning documents should be reviewed, to verify proper authority to borrow against the home, that all actions are taken in alignment with her estate plan, and that her plan is updated to reflect changes that may have occurred since her plan was established or last modified. While being in Japan make the process a more stressful, your wife can submit the application along with most supporting documents online, or through an appointed Agent (including yourself) using a limited or general Power of Attorney. This may already exist as part of her estate plan.  On a personal note, my law practice is based in Lake Forest, California, but my wife and I maintain homes in both California and Kyoto. We also spent many years caring for her mother in Japan, who passed away in September 2019 at 97. If you have further questions, or would like further support, please feel free to contact my office.... Read More

A parcel of real property that is titled in your name individually at the time of your death must go through probate. To avoid probate you must transfer the title of the property to the trust, or otherwise provide for the transfer of the property without the necessity of probate. There are several options for accomplishing that objective. The real property involved also appears to be your homestead. If you are married, there are limitations on who you can transfer the title to at your passing. I strongly recommend that you consult with an experienced estate planning, elder law, or real estate attorney regarding your options and the proper method of implementing those options. Florida homestead law is among the most complicated of all laws, and is commonly referred to as the "legal chameleon" because of how the law is applied based on your factual circumstances. C. Randolph Coleman... Read More

If you are receiving payments from an unknown person, I would report it to the bank or the police. That is improper.  If on the other hand, a trustee is telling you that you are a beneficiary of a trust, but he will not reveal the settlor of the trust, you can demand a copy of the trust so that you can ensure you are getting the proper payments.  ... Read More

This will depend on whether the trust is revocable, irrevocable, and whether your spouse is the grantor. If the trust is an irrevocable trust, then the beneficiary designations remain the same and the house remains property of the Trust.    You may have to seek to have the trust dissolved as part of the divorce in order to obtain any of the assets in it. This will be a difficult fight to convince the court that the Trust property should be considered marital property, as frequently it is placed in trust in order to avoid the property being considered marital property.... Read More

You need to have the trust explained to you.  Contact the trustee to see what the requirements for distributions are for your child's trust.  Most trusts have a HEMS standard for distributions.  This means the trustee can provide money for the health, education, maintenance and support of the beneficiary.  A car woudl typically be something a trtustee could do under these standards, but the decision is in the discretion of the trustee. A trustee can be called to task if he is too tight with the distributions.... Read More

Most commonly, parents establish Revocable Living Trusts, in their names, using their own Social Security Numbers. Subject to the terms of the original trusts, continuing irrevocal trusts will likely require EIN numbers, separate accountings, reporting to beneficiaries, their agents, etc., as part of ongoing trust administration. To specifically answer your question, the original trust documents, and actions taken since it was established should be reviewed to determine the history and current status of the estate, With that, you'll be in a much better position to coordiante with tax, accounting, and other professionals to move forward with your process.... Read More

In general, you should not need a child's birth certificate or Social Security number in order to create a trust for that child's benefit if the trust is being created by a Will or a trust agreement that your father is having prepared. If your father is trying to set up a 529 Plan college savings account, or even a custodial account, then some of that information might be needed. You may want to try to find out more about what your father is trying to do. But if you don't feel comfortable giving out your children's information, certainly don't give it out.... Read More