Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Estate law

If ny wife is named as an heir not a beneficiary in her grandfathers trust,and there is a bank account named to go to her. Does she have to deal with the trustee to claim this account or can she deal directly with the attorney who handled the trust?


Asked on 1/23/08, 7:34 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Phillip Lemmons, Esq. Phillip Lemmons APC, Attorneys at Law

Re: Estate law

If she's the beneficiary of a bank account. She only needs to deal with the bank. Her grandfather's death certificate and her identification is all that's required to claim the asset.

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Answered on 1/24/08, 3:28 pm
Mitchell Roth MW Roth, Professional Law Corporation

Re: Estate law

Wow. This question is confused. If she is named as an heir, it simply acknowledges the family relationship. If she is not named as a beneficiary, than she gets no gift from the trust If there is an account that is held in her grandfather's name, "in trust for" your wife, this is a form of account called a Totten trust and is a valid will substitute with respect to the funds in that account only. She does not have to deal with anyone after her grandfather's death, but merely give the bank the documentation they need to be satisfied that she is the person named. The bank will then pay her the money in the account. If she is named on the account as a joint tenant, or a joint owner,then the money in the account is already hers.

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Again, the book is, to my knowledge, the only one written for regular people in the middle class, and it contains in an appendix the Legacy Living Trust Package, which to my knowledge is the only complete fill-in the blanks trust package written in simple English ("People Ease", not "Legalese") that will be valid in every State in the US.

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Answered on 1/24/08, 12:27 pm


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