Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

My Uncle left me an IRA through Patelco Credit Union, when he died I took the documents that were drawn up in 2017 naming me the beneficiary to Patelco and I was told that my Aunt was the primary beneficiary. She died in 2017. I had both death certificates, I was told that the document used to name me beneficiary was not the proper form and that the IRA will go to my uncles estate. Can Patelco be held liable for the error the employee made when not using the correct form? The form used was IRA BENEFICIARY REQUIRED ELECTION naming my uncle as the original owner and naming myself as the beneficiary. of an inherited traditiona IRA. The box checked Transfer to an inherited IRA. i also was given ininherited IRA application and under Contribution Info. the Transfer box is checked. All documents are signed by the Patelco employee, and dated 8/23/2017.


Asked on 12/21/22, 12:26 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

You leave out too many details to give any real advice, but the short answer is financial institutions all use waivers on their forms and account agreements disclaiming liability for estste planning errors. They are not estate lawyers. If you want to make sure you are using the right form and filling it out correctly and you want advice you can sue over if it’s wrong you have to have a lawyer review it and sue for malpractice if the advice is wrong.

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Answered on 12/22/22, 9:49 am


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