Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: bank account with a living trust

My book, "Create Your Legacy & Save the American Middle Class. How You Can Protect Your Family and Loved Ones in the Event of Death or Disability (Without Paying Legal Fees) and Win their Gratitude and Admiration" explains all you need to know in simple, plain English. You can go to www.yourlivinglegacy.info for more information on this and obtain a download of the book.

If you have co-bank accounts, the account may not be part of the trust estate. If the funds were your mothers, and you were put on the account, depending upon how this was done, the funds may now be yours and they may never have been part of the trust estate. This is discussed in the book under joint accounts and totten trusts.

If you are or were trustee, you had better beware, though, and make sure that you are not required to account for or consider these funds in distributing the trust estate now that your mother has died.

Your taxes are separate, but the question is who must report the interest? The possibilities are you or the final tax return of your mom, which must be filed by the successor trustee of the trust.

If you are successor trustee, you can hire a lawyer and an accountant to help you with these things and pay them out of the trust estate.

Re: bank account with a living trust

to answer these questions the trust agreement and bank account statements must be reviewed. there were also likely actions that should have been taken at your mother's death (even if no probate was necessary). you should retain an attorney to advise you regarding the details of these matters. otherwise, it is unlikely that these issues will be resolved correctly or completely.