Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Family Trust cash accounts
Concerning Jones Family trust of 1990. Mrs. Jones dies and Mr. Jones adds daughter named Smith (who is also #1 trustee of family trust) to cash account. Cash account is now named: Jones or Smith as trustees of Jones family trust.
According to Jones family trust all cash accounts are to be divided as follows...� to Mrs. Smith and � to be divided between three grandchildren. Mr. Jones dies.
My question: Mrs. Smith says her name is on account so it is all hers. Grandchildren say this is cash account of the trust and that they are intitled to their share. Is this a joint account where Mrs Smith has right of survivorship or do the granchildren have a right to a share of this account according to the trust agreement?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Family Trust cash accounts
It's difficult to answer without knowning more--I'd be interested to see how the bank's legal department sees it. There's certainly a strong argument that the trustmaker intended the account to be held in the trust, and the titling is ambiguous. If the word "trustees" is used in the plural, it seems both persons are named as trustees of the trust, not in their individual capacity, and so the account should be a trust asset. If the amount in there is significant, I'd get an attorney to demand its return to the trust, or else the remaining trustee may spend it quickly.
Re: Family Trust cash accounts
to really get a handle on the entire situation, I would need to review the trust and any documents adding the other persons naome to the checking. If it the account is inside the truse, the trust owns it, not Mr. Jones or the additional trustee.
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