Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Letters of Testamentary
I am Trustee of a Trust that had a Roth IRA left without a designated beneficiary. The Bank's Investment Services said that they wanted an Affidavit of Domicile, and a Small Estate Affidavit. My Trust Attorney said that the Inventory of the Trust was too large to qualify for a Small Estate Affidavit. She petitioned the court for a court order, ''Estate of Heggstad''. After filling out paper work at the Bank's Investment Services, they now want Letters of Testamentary; they won't accept the $2,800 court order. I have been trying to get the Roth IRA proceeds of $2,000.00 into the Trust since July of 2008. My Trust Attorney clamins that it must be brought into the Trust even though it is a small amount of money. They have been leading me along at great expense of my time and the Trust's money. What can I do?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Letters of Testamentary
The bank will have to accept the court order. There is no need for Letters Testamentary when you have a Trust. The Heggstad Petition is the proper avenue on which to proceed. Now, it's just a matter of getting the attorney to put more pressure on the bank; because the bank cannot legally refuse the order.
Also, the small estate affidavit (Probate Code 13100) takes into account the "total" value of the whole estate -- not just the asset you are trying to obtain. Thus, if the entire estate is over $100,000, the 13100 affidavit is inappropriate.
The only thing you (and preferably your attorney) can do it to armtwist the bank into doing the correct thing and accept the order. If the bank continues to refuse, you can file an Order to Show Cause (OSC) as to why the bank will not accept the order, then the bank will need to appear and give good cause -- and there is none. I realize this entails additional fees, but the bank could be made to pay sanctions for their initial refusal to accept the order, which would be the cost of the OSC.
Kind regards,
Marc
Re: Letters of Testamentary
It soulds like you're probably going to have to probate the will.
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