Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas
''Duties of An Independent Executrix
My mother died in 1995 leaving my father as a widower.
She had a retirement fund in the amount of $20,000.00. My father died in 2000. Upon his death I became the Independent Executrix of his estate.
Once he died the funds from my mother's retirement plan were issued to me.
Questiion:
Is my sister entitled to any funds from my mother's retirement plan?
Thank you for your time.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: ''Duties of An Independent Executrix
Thank you for your question. I will first assume that the estate is in California and not Texas, i.e., California law applies. I also cannot give you an answer without knowing much more, so I want to make sure you understand that the following is just pure speculation and not a legal opinion to be relied upon. If California law applies, then most likely her retirement plan funded during marriage would become your father's either through a beneficiary designation, a will provision, or intestate rules. Once it becomes your father's, then you have to determine how he wanted the plan distributed. If he expressed no wishes, then the plan as the rest of his estate would most likely be equally distributed amoungst his kids. To put it another way, why do you think you have more entitlement to the funds than your sister. Probably therein lies the answer. I hope this helped. I strongly urge you to directly contact an attorney, which as an executrix you are obligated to do. You are most likely breaching your duties if you guess, and guess wrong. If you are within my county of Santa Clara, or if you live close by, you can call me at (408) 268-2580. Otherwise, please contact an attorney to get advice from an attorney who has all of the important information.
Re: ''Duties of An Independent Executrix
If you became independent executrix I'm assuming that your father died with a will, the will was probated, and you mother's retirement account went to his estate.
What did the will say to do with his property? Have you asked the attorney that helped probate the will?
Re: ''Duties of An Independent Executrix
The answer depends on whether your father had selected beneficiaries for the retirement account. If not, the rules of the retirement account dictate--they sometimes give the property to relatives, but usually they give it to the estate. It sounds like that's what happened here, if they gave the funds to you as executor.
If that's the case, the question is then who your father left his assets to in his will, or if no will, who the state says is entitled to receive the assets.
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