Question about Executors of an Estate

Parent Cafe
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<p>It is about the money. $50,000 covers the downpayment of an average home in the United States. $50,000 is close to the average median household income. And the $50,000 is after tax money.</p>

<p>$50,000 is a lot of money in Manhattan too. </p>

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<p>I’m counting how many posts before the term income equality is mentioned.</p>

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<p>@jym626‌ how awful that your brother mistreated you when you were doing the right thing. poop on him.</p>

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<p><<<
mom2collegekids wrote:
It’s funny that this started because of dream schools, a topic often discussed here on CC. Two cousins wanting to go to a certain dream LAC. One niece’s parents easily affording, the other niece’s parents could not. Wealthier parent wanted both girls at the same school, so the loan was offered.
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<p><<<
@ucbalumnus‌
There was no convincing them to roll in a tide of scholarship money?</p>

<p>Seems like the social pressure to “keep up with the Joneses” in terms of college selection and spending was a root cause of this conflict.
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<p>lol…I’m sure in hindsight H’s sis wished she had directed her DD down south with free tuition. However, she was premed (a year ahead of my son) and BIL convinced her that her DD’s best chances for premed were at this pricey LAC. In the end, she didn’t have the stats for med school and failed thru 2 app cycles.</p>

<p>And, yes there was huge pressure to keep up with the Joneses. These two niece cousins were very close and the idea of sending them away together was attractive to the families. </p>

<p>@dstark Yes, $50k is a lot of money. I down-played the amount because I didn’t want people thinking that we’re talking hundreds of thousands per child. </p>

<p>SIL isn’t buying a home…she’s repairing a fixer-upper she bought a couple of years ago…which as we all know from our own experiences…remodeling always costs more than you think! And with fixer-uppers, there are always hidden troubles that reveal as you go along. </p>

<p>@ucbalumnus‌ No, I don’t think SIL is having money “problems”. I just think that a check for $50k would go a long way to getting her fixer-upper home in order. I know after my own summer remodeling experience of a rental property that $50k can go a long way with that. SIL’s realtor H is also extremely handy and does much of the work himself, so in that regard, $50k is like $100k+</p>

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<p>I dont like to speculate mom2collegekids but there does appear to be spending issues with your inlaws. :)</p>

<p>Did your niece consider DO schools? Has she lost interest in medicine.</p>

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<p>If the account is joint, than all three have equal rights to ALL of the money. I mean, this could really be an interesting legal case, but there is nothing stopping anyone from taking the money. If it was a joint account, then it wasn’t your MIL’s any more.</p>

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<p>This is true…it really wasn’t MIL’s money anymore. I don’t think her name was on the acct anymore…maybe it was.</p>

<p>I only recently learned that the accts had been set up this odd way (all kids’ names on it). We’re actually very lucky that no one got divorced during that time. Otherwise, those accts might have become a battleground in some way. I realize that the money wouldn’t have been “money earned within the marriage.” Supposedly, BIL set things up this way because they didn’t want to set up a trust (like my parents did) to avoid probate. </p>

<p>Frankly, I’m not sure this was legal since technically when it was done, the mom was “gifting” each kid a bunch of money (and the amounts were much higher before she needed around-the-clock-home-care). Since the rest of us never knew about this “gift”, obviously no one was taxed on it. Unless each account was gifted in a different year, this was a fuzzy way of doing things.</p>

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<p>BTW…when my last parent died, we learned that my parents accidentally left off some accts to their trust. We had to spend about a year getting a judge to add them in under the premise that it was an over-sight and not intentional. Thankfully, our atty didn’t charge a ton. </p>

<p>And just last month, my brother learned of two more odd bonds my parents had…and my parents have been dead for 3+ years. Things fall thru the cracks. </p>

<p>Just something to keep in mind when setting up your own trust accounts. Make sure you have everything in there.</p>

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<p>Post 66 is a great post, momof2collegekids. My aunt and uncle did not include all their assets in their trust so now there is a court hearing this month.</p>

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<p>What did the niece end up doing since she didn’t get in to medical school?</p>

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<p>If you don’t include all your assets in the trust, make sure they are named beneficiaries. Only a house can’t designate beneficiaries.</p>

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<p>My father had a trust with about a third of his assets. The rest of his holdings were never placed in the trust. The distribution terms of the trust are identical to the beneficiaries in his will, and I am the successor trustee of the trust and the executor of the estate. The big difference is that I could distribute the trust very quickly after his death; his estate has to wait for probate (still waiting six months later).</p>

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<p>This is all making me realize that I don’t understand this stuff at all.</p>

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<p>It depends on the account. But with my MIL we were waiting for less than 1 year, I mean there was no rush to have access to the money. But it’s not lost forever or as the case with no beneficiaries that it could take even longer for the court to decide who should or shouldn’t have been the beneficiaries.
<a href=“An Overview to a Beneficiary - Probate - LAWS.com”>Probate Laws - Probate;

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<p><a href=“http://law.freeadvice.com/estate_planning/probate/go_through_probate_will.htm”>http://law.freeadvice.com/estate_planning/probate/go_through_probate_will.htm&lt;/a&gt;

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<p>Which is why "do it yourself’ can be so problematic. It doesn’t cost that much to get a will done and have an attorney advise you on how to set up your beneficiaries and POD to accomplish what you want to. You can have a will and still avoid the high cost of probate – in fact, if things aren’t to complex, that is exactly what having an estate and a will can help you do. Our estate attorneys when I was an executor were worth every penny because I didn’t know much about it - and every state has different laws on top of that. If you don’t have a will… go now to get one made and also discuss accounts beneficiaries and POD with your attorney.</p>

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<p>Yes, mom2, my bro is a poopyhead. </p>

<p>Just curious, did the sister buy their house before dau went to college or after she borrowed the money from her brother?</p>

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<p>Oh, and wen my mom passed away, there was one stock that had converted from something to something else (it was an insurance company) and it accidentally got left out of the trust. In hindsight it would have been less stressful just to forget about it than to deal with the bru ha-ha of having to let my brother see mom’s will. It was ugly- and he took it out on dad and me. Long story. requires a glass of wine to tell.</p>

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<p>intparent, my MIL and her brother just died, and we will get enough money in inheritance to 1) Pay off the house, and 2) Do a proper will. This has all been interesting to me, especially seeing what a mess the uncle’s will is turning out to be.</p>

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<p>Not all trusts are probate free, are they?</p>

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<p>There are many instances where a LOT of money and heartache can be saved by prudently hiring a good attorney that specializes in estate planning and being sure that your wishes are carried out. I feel that often, saving money in this area leads to a lot of ugly problems that can last a lifetime and even spill over into the next generation, sadly. It is another reason to give it all to charity or spend it all before you die! (Only sort of kidding.) </p>

<p>It’s also another reason to be VERY careful about lending anyone money, especially if YOU may possibly need it back sooner than later. It can get messy and sad for everyone.</p>