How do I find out if a college fund was set up after a person dies for grandchild?

He should have records in his house, but whomever gets his mail will know. There will be a 1099 or a quarterly statement issued by whatever bank or brokerage has possession of the funds. If you know his lawyer, accountant or financial advisor they will share that information with you.

Tough one; there should be a personal representative or trustee administering the estate of the decedent; that person will have access to records and should be able to find the account.

All you can do is make an inquiry of the Executor or Executrix of the estate and ask to see any and all accounts in your Grandfather's name which they came across after his demise. Or you may be able to review any accounting submitted to the Probate Court. Or you can call the Executor's attorney to see if they will tell you.

The personal representative of the estate should be reviewing records of grandfather's assets to identify assets of the estate. Generally these college funds are formalized rather than just a random account in which grandfather accumulates funds that he intends to go to grandchild because, if he does that, any income or appreciation in that account is taxable to grandfather. The common type of this fund is a 529 plan. Most all states, if not all, have such a fund, however the fund that grandfather may have contributed to may not be in either the state he lived in or the state that the grandchild lived in. So, by contacting the Personal Representative of the estate and seeking information of any periodic payments that were made to a 529 fund for the grandchild, you may be able to identify the particular fund. The grandchild's social security number has generally been provided to the fund and the grandchild is listed as the beneficiary subject to an age requirement before the money can be withdrawn. It is likely that more than one person can contribute to the fund so you could add to it if you chose to do so. Did this information help answer your question(s)? Details and context often affect the validity and usefulness of an answer that is based on a general statement of the law. You may need to consult directly with an attorney and provide additional information in order to get the best answer.

This is not that unusual for the grandfather, since he told "you," especially if "you" are representing the grandfather's estate, and hence the grandfather is assuming reputable and competent people like "you" know about the fund. Then of course there are always gift-tax filing considerations. Even though there are various ways out of filing a gift tax return in cases of making gifts of college tuition, eventually the estate is going to run out of gift-tax exemptions for a grandchild's college expenses. State law should be consulted since in some states the grandfather may want to take the large one-time "bunched up" *federal*exemption, but the lower Coverdale exemptions either may not be available in the state where grandfather lives, or, if available, they may not seem to him much of a bargain given the federal gift tax exemption that can now be bunched up, as in the first year when the $55,000 exemption was available all at one time, assuming the grand kids' ages work out, etc.. For example, If grandfather has four grand kids who can be "bunched" up, he automatically reduces any taxable estate by $220,000. In other states, Georgia for example, the grandfather would have access to the federal exemption plus annual Coverdale exemptions and that might look like a good deal to him. After all, by exempting gift tax for as long as viable, the grandfather, with "your" excellent advice now knows that he can lower some or even all of his potential estate tax, if any, by getting rid of assets while alive that help children he loves and wants to help. When I suspect a concealed gifting situation is an 800 pound gorilla in the room, I go after the gorilla instead of grandfather, who may be trying to hide gifts from you or maybe even his older children. So I confidently, without rancor, blame everything on those "money-mad IRS agents," so grandfather, if he is concealing a gift or gifts, feel as though he can trust me and assume that I'm not going to rush out and report a bunch of hidden gifts that are buried in the back yard to the feds. My joke is as follows: Grandfather says something like, "Well, how is the IRS ever going to know to whom I made gifts or even if I ever made any gifts?" I smile, make sure he knows this is a joke to me and tell him, "Well, why don't you just ask your cell mate at Leavenworth," then I laugh and say, "Oh dear that was a stupid joke, wasn't it? Actually, grandfather, you have some other options where you can make those gifts out in the open and GAIN by losing assets that are otherwise estate taxable.I would just tell grandfather, maybe with father and mother in the conference room in case he has a weak memory, "You know, there are some good, presently available gift tax exemptions that we should look at. How old are the grand kids again who are going to college? And how many are there and when do they start college? Then, if the age of the grand kids works out so you can make a present or "pretty soon" gift, go over once again how whittling down the grandfather's estate in the form of gifts with large exemptions is lowering the ever menacing estate tax for wealthy people. However, I would nonetheless definitely contact the grandfather's accountant and tell her/him that you are looking for some evidence of a college fund, as the accountant might have supervised a college fund gift that took place several years before the grandfather's death and now there are no more gift tax returns to study and no more exemptions with which to chase away the estate tax.

The fund may have been set up prior to his death. You should direct your questions about the fund to the personal representative of the estate.

A college fund would not necessarily be listed in the will. It may have been set up during the grandfather's life as a trust, a custodial account, or a section 529 plan. You could try asking the personal representative of the estate, who would have access to information about the decedent's accounts.

Go to the bank he used and see if one was established. Ask other family members if they know of a fund being set up.